Where Michelangelo sourced his David. The quarries, the workshops, and the contemporary marble art festival.
Plan your Italy trip →A cultural event celebrating Carrara's marble heritage with exhibitions, quarry visits, sculpting workshops, and art installations. Carrara's marble has been quarried since Roman times — Michelangelo personally selected blocks here for the David, the Pietà, and the Sistine Chapel tombs.
The real draw is visiting the cave di marmo (marble quarries) in the Apuan Alps above Carrara. Huge white amphitheatres carved into mountains over millennia. 4x4 tours take you into active quarries where blocks are cut — the scale is staggering. Companies like Marble Tour and Cave di Marmo Tours run guided visits year-round (€20-40, 2-3 hours).
The medieval town has workshops where you can see (and try) marble sculpting. The Accademia di Belle Arti has been teaching marble arts since 1769. The Duomo's facade is — naturally — entirely marble. The town center has studios selling contemporary marble art from €50 (small sculptures) to €50,000+ (large works).
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