CARRARA

city, Massa-Carrara provincia, Toscana (Tuscany) regione, in north-central Italy. It lies along the Carrione River in the foothills of the Apuan Alps, just northwest of Massa and east of La Spezia. Acquired by the Malaspina family in 1428, it constituted, with Massa, the principality (1568) and duchy (1633) of Massa-Carrara. The city's notable landmarks include the 12th- to 14th-century cathedral, built in the Pisan style, and the academy of fine arts, housed in the former ducal palace. The city is famous for some of the world's finest marble, called Carrara, taken from nearby quarries and used by sculptors from Michelangelo to Henry Moore. The Marina di Carrara, immediately to the southwest, is a beach resort on the Ligurian Sea, with port facilities for handling marble. Pop. (1990 est.) mun., 68,528.