I first learned of Carrara marble as a child in 1964 when I visited the New York World's Fair and saw Michelangelo's Pieta statue which was said to be carved from the marble. His famous statue, David, was also carved from Carrara marble. From a distance, it appears that these mountains on Italy's west coast are snow-capped but as you come closer the gashes in the mountains exposing the white and blue-gray marble become apparent. This marble is used all over the world not only for statues and monuments but for bathrooms, kitchens and floors as well. Signs indicate the many dangers on the road ahead as you approach the quarries. You would have to drive slowly just to read the sign. We visited on Christmas day and had the entire area to ourselves.
A series of tunnels were especially spooky as the only light was from our headlights and it was "raining" inside the tunnels:
A bulldozer and a tunnel reminded us that not all of the mining had been from the surface. It was unclear how much marble has come from such tunnels.
A retaining wall of white marble protects the road:
I'm not sure what these gorgeous pieces of marble will be used for or where in the world they will go but they look quite artistic already:
Doreen and her husband had the frescoes, painted in 1770, restored several years ago and told us the restorer had to show her methods to a panel of judges in order to be approved to do the work. Forbidden to use any kind of scrubbing action, her method was to lay thin rice paper over the fresco and carefully "paint" a detergent over the paper. Doreen said the amount of soot and yellowing that transferred to the paper was impressive. 
