Calacatta Michelangelo Quarry Trip

Traveling to Carrara, Italy always feels a bit like stepping into the past – moving the timeline backward to an era in history when gods controlled the wills and whims of man. Carrara is both new and old, both modern and ancient – unlike many American cities that have all but erased evidence of older civilizations with skyscrapers and miles of highways, Carrara still shows its roots – and these roots happen to go back thousands of years and are rooted in the mountains of marble that almost surround the town.

Our trip took us to the Calacatta Michelangelo Quarry – home to an exclusive form of marble that rightly bears the name of Italy’s most famous sculpture/inventor/artist/ visionary. And Calacatta marble is truly a vision – pure white elegance with silver-eque veins that run through it like a pack of wild rivers. It seems like almost every block is somehow unique. We are here now to see how it began and to see the original rail line that brought this exclusive stone down the mountain before more modern machines took over.

Bardiglio marble deposit deep within the mountains of the Michelangelo quarry

Being in the mountain was its own grand experience that left us in a continual state of awe. We also visited a Bardiglio marble cave, which looks like the gray cousin of Calacatta marble – much darker and more striking in design. If the king of gods Jupiter covered his palace in Calacatta Michelangelo marble, then Bardiglio marble went to his brother Pluto to “upgrade” the Underworld. It’s difficult not to think of the old Roman gods (and emperors) when standing in a mountain that existed even before they did.

Hand-carved Carrara marble statues

After our visit to the mountain and the marble source, we visited one of the last remaining stone sculpting universities to see how the stone was being transformed into literal works of art. Another example of Carrara’s dichotomy – the modern age (and tools) blending with art forms that can be traced back for centuries. We could have been standing in the same place where busts of the first Caesar were carved. Or carved statues of Jupiter, Neptune, and Mars. History exudes from every corner of this place.

Chief Buyer Brian Nickolaus inspecting Calacatta blocks

Our next (and last) stop was to see the marble processing factory and (again) inspect the blocks we previously selected. We looked again, examining closely, to find the choicest marble. Sales Director Brian Nickolaus made our selection, which initiated the next phase – measuring and weighing the stone so that a price could be negotiated. No contracts here, just handshakes and the bond of our word. And then, our journey was completed – the marble would be processed, finished, and shipped to California, and we would return to our own time again.

Venduto. (sold)