The Apuan Alps.
The Apuan Alps are spectacular, a unique experience
which will leave an everlasting memory. Visiting these
mountains you ascend towards absolute whiteness, real
cathedrals of bare rock running parallel to the sea
and the Tyrhennian coast. Look at them from afar and
they seem forever cloaked in snow, but it is only
an illusion.
It is the scar left by the marble which has been
used by sculptors and architects from Michelangelo
until today to clothe monuments and buildings.
Carry on looking at them and they will seem wrapped
in eternal silence, but this too is an illusion, because
these rocks are the site of the fervent activity of
courageous quarry men.
Deafened by the echoing of the marble, the imposing
quarries take your breath away.
The perfection with which the diamond thread has cut
the blocks and shaped the enormous steps in the heart
of the mountain is astonishing.
The thousands of years of age of the quarries is
quite amazing. Here, ever since the Romans founded
Luni there have been stories of men, treacherous roads,
deadly drops and hard, hard work.
If you look down, you will discover the water descending
the slopes of Monte Sumbra which gave origin to the
enormous basins, known as Marmitte dei giganti (the
giants' cooking pots), during the last Ice Age.
Go further down and you come to the cave lover's paradise,
the Corchia grottoes developing miles underground
into the earth's core. These caves are still being
explored and new branches, connections, enormous rooms
and galleries of stalactites are continuously
being found.
The Apuan Alps, at the heart of a natural park, are
an enrapturing world that is impossible to forget.
They are a unique and unexpected emotion.