Carrara

Carrara, a town of Italy, 62 miles from Florence and 30 from Leghorn, in a valley watered by the Avenza, and near the Mediterranean. The name of the town and its importance are derived from the marble which is quarried from the neighbouring mountains. There are from four to five hundred quarries, giving employment to many thousands of men, both in the quarries themselves and in the work of cutting and polishing. The marble has been worked from very ancient times, and is practically inexhaustible. The Romans knew it as Marnior Lunense, from Luna, an Etruscan town in the neighbourhood.