Province of Massa and Carrara
Edited by:
Massimo Martini
Access
The Province of Massa-Carrara is crossed by three railway lines that provide connections with the rest of Italy: the Genoa–La Spezia–Pisa railway along the Tyrrhenian coast, with stations at Massa Centro and Carrara-Avenza; the Pontremolese Railway ( Parma–La Spezia), which runs through the Lunigiana region with stops at Aulla and Pontremoli; and the Lucca–Aulla railway, which connects the Garfagnana to the lower Lunigiana. The main motorway access is via the Genoa–Livorno (Carrara and Massa toll booths) for the coastal strip and via the (Aulla toll booth) for the Lunigiana. The main state roads include the Via Aurelia along the coast and the della Cisa for the mountain passes towards the Parma area. The main airport for the coastal area is Pisa’s Galileo Galilei Airport (around 60 km from Massa); for northern Lunigiana, Milan Malpensa Airport is preferable (around 150 km from Pontremoli). The public road transport service is operated by Autolinee Toscane, with urban and inter-urban services to destinations in the hinterland and along the coast.
Introduction
The Province of Massa-Carrara is the northernmost of the Tuscan provinces, situated in the north-western corner of the region on the border with Liguria and Emilia-Romagna. The territory is divided into two geographically distinct areas: the Apuan Riviera, a narrow, flat coastal strip comprising the municipalities of Massa, Carrara and Montignoso, nestled against the Apuan Alps; and the Lunigiana, the vast inland basin centred on the Magra valley and its tributaries, with Pontremoli as its main centre. The border with Liguria to the west follows the watershed ridge of the northern Apuan range; the border with Emilia-Romagna to the north follows the Apennine ridge; and the border with the Province of Lucca to the south-east follows the Apuan range as far as the Versilia coast. To the south-west, the territory overlooks the Ligurian Sea for approximately 14 km.
Since 25 January 2024, pursuant to Decree-Law No. 7, Carrara has been recognised as a co-capital of the province alongside Massa. The feature that structurally characterises the entire area is marble quarrying: the Carrara marble quarries, whose activity dates back to Roman times and which were frequented by Michelangelo during the sixteenth century, are still today at the heart of a quarrying and manufacturing industry of international significance, visible from the coast as a series of whitish cliffs on the slopes of the Apuan Alps.
Description
The province’s geomorphological profile is shaped by the coexistence of three distinct physical regions. The coastal strip, no more than a few kilometres wide, consists of a recent alluvial plain formed by sediment carried by the Apuan streams. Behind it, the Apuan Alps rise with a rapidity unusual for peninsular Italy: within less than ten kilometres of the coast, elevations exceed 1,700 metres, with west-facing slopes receiving some of the highest levels of rainfall in Tuscany. The Lunigiana area, separated from the Apuan coastal strip by the Apuan mountain range itself, occupies the middle and upper basins of the Magra and its tributaries — the Vara, the Taverone, the Aulella — within a landscape of cultivated valley floors, wooded slopes and ridges bordering the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.
From a geological perspective, the Apuan Alps are composed of Triassic metamorphic rocks, predominantly crystalline limestone — marble — as well as phyllites, schists and quartzites. The carbonate nature of the rocks has produced one of the most extensive underground karst systems in Italy, with over 1,300 caves recorded, including the Antro del Corchia (the largest underground cave in Italy in terms of length) and the Grotta del Vento. Infiltrating water feeds springs of considerable flow on the western slopes, including the Frigido, which flows down towards Massa. The northern Apennines of the province, in the areas around Pontremoli and Fivizzano, consist mainly of sandy-marly flysch, with gentler landforms and forested slopes.
The history of the province is marked by two parallel trajectories. In Lunigiana – whose name is linked to the Apuan Ligurians who settled in the area before the Roman conquest – the medieval presence is documented by a concentration of castles, parish churches and walled villages, bearing witness to the region’s role as a link between the domains of the Po Valley, Ligurian and Tuscan domains. The Malaspina marquisates, which branched out between the 12th and 15th centuries, left behind a network of buildings spread across some fifteen municipalities; the village of Fosdinovo, with its late-medieval castle, is one of the most recognisable highlights of this itinerary. In the Apuan coastal strip, the main feature is the mining economy: Carrara has produced and traded marble continuously since Roman times, shaping its social structure around figures such as quarrymen, stonemasons and marble craftsmen.
The network of walking trails is concentrated mainly in the Apuan area. The Apuan Alps Regional Park, established in 1985 and part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserves Network, covers the mountainous part of the province, merging seamlessly with the Lucca section, and offers a network of trails — numbered by the CAI sections of Massa and Carrara — which connects peaks, mountain huts, marble quarries and ancient mountain passes. The Via Vandelli, an 18th-century mule track laid out between 1738 and 1751 on commission from the Duke of Modena by the engineer Domenico Vandelli to link Modena to the sea via the Apuan passes, is now accessible as a hiking route. In Lunigiana, the Via Francigena crosses the region, passing through Pontremoli and the municipalities of the upper Val di Magra, following the medieval route that linked Canterbury to Rome.
The Second World War left a deep mark on the region: the Gothic Line ran through the Apuan area and southern Lunigiana, and partisan resistance was fierce. The Province of Apuania (the name used between 1938 and 1946) was awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valour.
Information
Capital: Massa (co-capital: Carrara, from 25 January 2024)
Area:1,154.68 km²
Lowest elevation: 0 m
Highest elevation: 1,890 m – Mount Tambura Population:186,944 (as at 31 December 2024)
Municipalities: 17
Neighbouring provinces: Province of La Spezia, Province of Parma, Province of Reggio Emilia, Province of Lucca
Official website:www.provincia.ms.it