Italy is famous for its marble, especially Carrara marble. It is one of the most sought after marbles in the world. The beauty of marble is that it allows light to penetrate a few millimeters below its surface, creating a soft glow. It has a natural feeling of warmth and depth because of this. Its absorption of light makes the marble seem more human and perhaps is one of the reasons we have always felt a draw to marble statues.
To truly appreciate the marble sculptures, facades, and buildings in Italy it is helpful to know the history. In fact, with all of the beautiful marble products we sell we knew it was important for us to know and to share with you the amazing history of marble in the Apuan Alps region. The history of the marble industry in the Apuan Alps begins in 155 BC but the marble itself was created a long time before, from a material which may surprise you.
The Beginning of Marble
Around 50 million years ago the tectonic plates collided below the Mediterranean coast. The heat and pressure compressed the oceans limestone causing the material to become marble. In the depths of the sea small creatures would die and their skeletons would fall to the bottom of the sea where they would compress together over time with gravity. Eventually they would congeal and become petrified, and mix with the lime at on the sea floor, thereby forming marble, or "Marmo" in Italian. The high pressure during the movement of the earth’s crust changed the structure of the rock, in what is now the Apuan Alps, turning the lime into marble. The Apuan Alps formed into mountainous structures in the Northern part of Tuscany reaching heights up to 6000 feet.
"I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble."-Emperor Augustus
The History of Art and Marble
In 155 BC the first monument, that we know of, was created from marble from Polvaccio (an area close to Colonnata, a small village in the Apuan Alps). The monument was a gravestone over a base dedicated to Marco Marcello, the consul who finally defeated the Liguri-Apuani people. The gravestone was found among the ruins of Luni, a city close to LaSpezia and the Cinque Terre in the region of Liguria.
In 48 BC Mamurra, the Prefect of Engineers at the service of Julius Caesar, was the first to advertise the beauty of the Apuan marble. (Pliny writes this in Naturalis Historia). After that Strabo (a Greek geographer, philosopher and historian) declared that the most prestigious monuments and homes were made of Luni marble. These structures included: the Pantheon, the Bridge over the Volturno, the Pyramid of Cestius, the Arch of Domitian, the Porticus Octavia, the Temple of Jupiter, the Temple of Apollo Palatinus, the Trajan’s Column, the Temple of Concord, the Trajan’s Forum, and the Arch of Claudius.
Many famous sculptors would visit the Apuan Alps searching for the perfect pieces of statuario marble. This is the perfect marble for carving statues because it contains as little veining as possible. One of the most famous examples of this is the story in 1501 of Michelangelo who stayed in the region searching for months for the perfect marble for his works. In fact, the marble for David came from Carrara, the marble Michelangelo preferred. Leonardo da Vinci used the same marble, and in fact invented a marble-cutting machine for a quarry there.
The Details of the Marble Industry
In the beginning, and lasting until the 16th century, the mining of marble remained with very little change. The marble walls would be fractured and pieces extracted like that. Then in 1570 in Carrara gunpowder was used for the first time to break pieces of marble away from the walls. It was quick and economical, but over time it caused cracks in the marble walls and increased the amount of waste. During this time before a blast would go off a man would blow a horn which emitted low sounds warning people of the blast. Other methods were tried but found to have detrimental effects on the environment and also caused a great deal of waste.
In 1895 the helicoidal wire was used for the first time to cut the marble. (This happened in the building that is now the workshop of one of our artisans.) Due to the success and the reduction of waste the method was quickly adopted in almost every quarry. By using the wire they were able to square the blocks while removing them from the walls thereby creating very little waste. In the 1970’s the diamond wire appeared and that is what is used throughout the industry today.
From the Roman ages until fairly recent times the lizzatura method was used to move the marble blocks from mines to the quarry yard. Oxen would pull carts of marble along the routes, often dying from exhaustion. This was the method used until 1876 when the oxen were replaced by small railways, called Ferrovia Marmifera. After WWII the railways were replaced by large trucks. In the Roman age the blocks would be loaded onto ships in Luni and shipped to their destinations. After 1000 AD the blocks were shipped on small boats from Avenza and then on ships offshore. The Marina D’Avenza later became Marina di Carrara as it is still today.
Today there are very strict regulations on the extraction of marble, the waste and how it is handled. There are huge fines for people who do not comply with the strict regulations. Almost none of the marble is wasted, the small bits are used to make gravel, and the fine powder is used in flour (yes, the flour we eat) due to its calcium content. The marble dust is also sold to cosmetic companies and toothpaste companies. While debate still continues about the mining, the change to the landscape and the safety, the industry has come a long way and continues to strive to be better.
Want to See It For Yourself?
In Tuscany there are many tour companies which offer trips to the marble quarries in the Apuan Alps. Often by jeep visitors are taken into the marble caves and quarries to see first hand how marble is extracted, the formation of the Apuan Alps and the incredible operations of moving marble. From the vantage point of the marble caves there are gorgeous views of the sea, of the various towns and cities below and of the gorgeous Apuan Alps. We highly recommend taking the time during your vacation to take this tour and see what few other tourists see.
Discover the Beautiful Marble Products at Artful Italia
You can find these products by following the links below (the numbers coordinate from left to right of the photo. Don't forget to discover our other marble products by doing a quick search for "marble".
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