Mass art itineraries

  • A journey from Malaspina Castle in Piazza del Duomo
  • Route B Route out of town

    A journey from Malaspina Castle in Piazza del Duomo

    This route in the city of Massa starts in one of the most scenic, the rock on which stands the castle Malaspina.

    Castello Malaspina
    Walking through the path of the curtain wall that surrounds the large courtyard and the palace of the Marquis of Massa, an important Renaissance residence, overlooking the plains below and the coast. Such a position must have affected the choice to build early age in a fortified structure. At first it was only erected a high tower, the keep. Over the centuries proceeded by extending the fortified area was lifted as the beautiful Renaissance palace, whose place in the first place were only a few wooden houses, and fortifications were built along the walls to house the artillery read. In addition to the strong suggestion you try to visit the castle, you add that its rooms often host exhibitions.

    Going to town is reached via Alberica where you can visit the Diocesan Museum.

    Diocesan museum
    Located in the fifteenth floor of the Bishop's palace, the museum collects the most important examples of sacred art from the territory of Massa Carrara.
    It may, therefore, admire religious vestments, paintings, wooden and marble sculptures of medium and small size as well as tools and liturgical furnishings, some of the works of authors such as prestigious as Jacopo della Quercia, Felice Palma, Augustine Ghirlanda.

    Going by Alberica we arrive in Piazza Aranci dall'Ottocento that, a century in which it was made, is the emblem of the city center for both the masses and for tourists, some of which are distinguished as Leopardi and Carducci. As its name indicates this area is bounded on three sides by a double row of orange trees while the fourth, after all, stands the enormous size of the palace which is a unique monument.

    Palazzo Ducale
     Built between the sixteenth and the eighteenth century, the palace has its origin in the will of the prince Alberico I Cybo-Malaspina to give her was a little decorum and an image that would clearly be among the finest principalities of the Italian peninsula. If the outside looks sumptuous and magnificent, the interior, once enriched by beautiful paintings, including paintings by artists such as Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, Giorgione, unfortunately we can only observe the works of art that the dissipation of Duke Aldera and the prey of armed French Revolution could not escape the duke's property. At the end of the courtyard is a beautiful scenic backdrop to the grotesque where around the large statue of Neptune crowd and stucco decorations; fascinating are also the hall of the Swiss and the Duke Chapel, whose ceiling frescoes and valuable marble ancona remained to witness the original richness of this environment. Of note is also l 'alcove of Duke Charles II, triumph of craftsmanship of the sculptors in marble of Massa and Carrara. The palace is home to some temporary exhibitions.

    A side of the square is dominated by Dante, it comes up in Piazza del Duomo.

    Duomo
    Dedicated to St. Peter the Apostle and St. Francis of Assisi, the church was built in the fifteenth century and later reconstructed to serious damage and enlarged in the seventeenth century. Was this century that the Duke Alberic II built the family chapel, and below it the crypt tomb, near the church. Among the various works of particular interest are stored there to report the crib in polychrome terracotta by Benedetto Buglione and some paintings by Pinturicchio. There is no lack of course work in marble from nearby quarries of Carrara, as the altars of el'ancona Bergamini Andrea and Tommaso Lazzoni.

    For who reaches the area of the station it is advisable to make a small deviation that allows us to visit the Shrine of Our Lady Quercioli.

    Shrine of Our Lady Quercioli
     It was built in its original plant in 1832 in order to preserve an eighteenth-century fresco depicting the Madonna and Child with St. Anthony in prayer. Originally intended for the devotion of an individual, the work remained in his home until he was found by two women, one of whom wants it has obtained a pardon. They are also kept inside some valuable vestments and a wooden predella, of the sixteenth century, attributed to the school of Ghirlandaio.

    Route B Route out of town

    Ethnological Museum of Apuane
    The Ethnological Museum of Apuane, housed in a building near the shrine of Our Lady of Uliveti Mass, is dedicated to popular culture of the coastal area of Lunigiana. Currently, the museum presents one of the most comprehensive collections of Tuscany is in terms of quantity, both for the type of the objects presented. The collection ethno-anthropological dating from the nineteenth and twentieth century, includes tools for work, industrial and agricultural resources, and whatever relates to the business and daily life of local people. Beside the documentation of households, rural artisan, the possibility also presents the testimony in mining and processing of marble.

    Villa la Rinchiostra
    Originally casino game, the building became a villa in the seventeenth century thanks to Teresa Pamphili, wife of Charles II Cybo Malaspina. The large garden that surrounds it is divided by paths into beds of boxwood, decorated with flowers, trees and statues.
    Once in the hands of several owners, is now owned by the Municipality of Massa. The park has lost much of the design of the original structure, only two of the four tanks were visible today. Impressive trees, this park: the majestic oaks of the central avenue, the spectacular cedars of Lebanon, the giant magnolias, the exotic camphor trees of the eucalyptus and palm trees. Among the plants can not miss the orange trees that for centuries characterized the city of Massa.