CARRARA, a town of Tuscany, Italy, in the province of Massa e Carrara, 39of t. above sea-level, 3m. by rail N.N.E. of Avenza, which is 16m. E.S.E. of Spezia. Pop. (1931) (town), 58,511 (commune). The cathedral (1272-1385) is a fine Gothic building dating from the period of Pisan supremacy; the other churches, and indeed all the principal buildings of the town, are constructed of the local marble, to which the place owes its importance. The Accademia di Belle Arti contains several Roman antiquities (including workmen's tools) found in the quarries, and some modern works by local sculptors. Some of the quarries were worked in Roman times (see LUNA), but were abandoned after the downfall of the western empire, until the growth of Pisan architecture and sculpture in the 12th and 13th centuries created a demand for the marble. The quarries now extend over almost the whole of the Alpi Apuane. The amount exported in 1912 was 234,00o and in 1926, 600,000 tons. The quarries are served by a separate railway.