Massa is mentioned for the first time in theTabula Peutingeriana, a 2nd-4th century AD itinerary, with the namead Tabernas frigidas, referring perhaps to a stage on the Via Aemilia Scauri consular road from Pisa toLuni.
From the 15th to the 19th century, Massa was the capital of the independent Principate (later Duchy) ofMassa and Carrara, ruled by theMalaspina andCybo-Malaspina families. Massa is the first recorded town in Europe in which the magnetic needlecompass was used in mines to map them and determine the extent of various mine owners' properties.[citation needed]
Massa counts several hamlets (frazioni): Altagnana, Alteta, Antona, Baita, Bargana, Bergiola, Bondano, Borgo del Ponte, Bozzone, Ca' di Cecco, Caglieglia, Campareccia, Canevara, Capaccola, Casania,Casette, Casone, Castagnara, Castagnetola, Castagnola, Cervara, Cinque Vie, Ciremea, Codupino, Cupido, Forno, La Gioconda, Gotara, Gronda, Grondini, Guadine, Le Iare, Lavacchio, Marina di Massa, Mirteto, Monte Pepe, Ortola, Pariana, Partaccia, Pian della Fioba, Poggi, Poggiolo, Poggioletto, il Ponte, Poveromo, Poveromo Macchie, Pratta, Puliche, Quercioli, Redicesi, Remola, Resceto, Ricortola, Rinchiostra, Rocca, Romagnano, Ronchi, San Carlo Terme, San Cristoforo, San Leonardo, San Lorenzo, Santa Lucia, Il Santo, Sei ponti, Turano, Vergheto, Le Villette, Volpigliano, Zecca.[3]
The Massa area is of high touristic value and also hosts a concentration of some 600 industrial and craft activities, located within the so-called Apuan Industrial Zone, with a direct employment of more than 7,000 people. Together with the twin town ofCarrara, Massa is known for the extraction and production ofmarble.
Consorzio Apuano Trasporti, also known asCAT, was the company that, since 1 January 1969, managed the local public transport by road in the province ofMassa-Carrara. CAT went bankrupt in 2009 and was taken over byAutolinee Toscana Nord ATN. On 1 February 2015 ATN leased its management branch, vehicles, staff and facilities toCTT Nord until the end of the contract for the local public transport of the Tuscany.[5]CTT Nord together withVaiBus in 2017 extended its stay as a concessioner of ATN until 31 December 2019, from 1 January 2020 leased its management branch toRATP Dev, a company of the French RATP group, awarding the contract for local public transport by road of the Tuscany Region.[6]
From 1890 to 1932 Massa counted on a railway line from Marina toForno and, from 1922 to 1975, a monorail serving a marble quarry namedLizza di Piastreta.[7]
Menziani, Alberto (2011). "Massa dall'Unità d'Italia alla Prima Guerra Mondiale: mezzo secolo di stori urbanistica o la nascita della città contemporanea".Atti e Memorie della Deputazione di storia patria per le antiche provincie modenesi. pp. 261–300.
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