Resistance and extractivism: Inside Carrara, Italy's home of white marble
For more than 2,000 years, marble has been extracted from these hills.
But today, the damage this has caused is more visible than ever. Aquifers polluted by industrial products used for the mining process, a near-constant procession of heavy trucks pumping fumes into the air and a high number of workplace accidents in the quarries - the last fatal accident happened on April 28 - are the daily reality of a territory in flux, a place where natural beauty and industrial transformation collide.
Carrara, a small town nestled at the foot of the Apuan Alps in northwestern Tuscany, is one of the world's most important white marble extraction districts, with more than 100 quarries on its doorstep.
Marble has been quarried in this area since Roman times, when it became the stone of the empire. Used for decoration, construction and sculpture, it was a symbol of prestige and high status.
Later, it was used by the Catholic Church in much the same way - to adorn important palaces and cathedrals and to create religious sculptures. During the Renaissance, Carrara marble gained fame through sculptures by artists like Michelangelo, Donatello, Bernini and others.
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Resistance and extractivism: Inside Carrara, Italy's home of white marble
Carrara, Italy - At dawn, the jagged peaks of the Apuan Alps can be seen rising steeply above the Tyrrhenian Sea, their sharp silhouettes mirrored in the still water below. Shaped over millennia by wind and rain - and in recent centuries by mining - these mountains have a deeply scarred appearance. For more than 2,000 years, marble has been extracted from these hills. But today, the damage this has caused is more visible than ever. Aquifers polluted by industrial products used for the mining process, a near-constant procession of heavy trucks pumping fumes into the air and a high number of workplace accidents in the quarries - the last fatal accident happened on April 28 - are the daily reality of a territory in flux, a place where natural beauty and industrial transformation collide. Carrara, a small town nestled at the foot of the Apuan Alps in northwestern Tuscany, is one of the world's most important white marble extraction districts, with more than 100 quarries on its doorstep. Marble has been quarried in this area since Roman times, when it became the stone of the empire. Used for decoration, construction and sculpture, it was a symbol of prestige and high status. Later, it was used by the Catholic Church in much the same way - to adorn important palaces and cathedrals and to create religious sculptures. During the Renaissance, Carrara marble gained fame through sculptures by artists like Michelangelo, Donatello, Bernini and others.
