Cava Museo Fantiscritti
Open-air museum in the Carrara marble basin with life-size sculptures of the quarrymen’s work and life up to 1960.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The Cava Museo Fantiscritti is located in the heart of the Carrara marble basin, in the locality of Miseglia, and was founded in 1987 as an open-air museum dedicated to the history of marble and of those who quarried it. It is not an active quarry: the route tells how marble was dug out, transported and worked in the past.
The idea is due to Walter Danesi, who for forty years gathered materials and testimonies on the quarryman’s trade. The result is a display populated by life-size sculptures showing the stages of quarry work and the life of workers’ families up to 1960, including the reconstruction of a modest workers’ house.
The name Fantiscritti derives from a Roman relief of the 3rd century AD with three deities (Hercules, Bacchus and Jupiter), who represent Septimius Severus and his sons Caracalla and Geta. The relief was detached from the site in 1864 and is today preserved at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara. In the area there are also signatures and dates left by visitors over the centuries, including those attributed to Canova and Giambologna.
Highlights
- Life-size sculptures of quarrymen at work
- Reconstruction of a workers’ house up to 1960
- Account of the extraction and transport of Carrara marble
- Guided tour of the marble basin
Permanent exhibition
- Percorso museale all’aperto – Life-size sculptures and reconstructed settings illustrate the trade of the quarryman and family life up to 1960.
- Founded
- 1987
Admission & discounts
| Groups (10+ people) | €10 per personGuided tour for adults, minimum 10 people; over 30 people €9 per person; associations and groups €8 per person. |
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| Primary schools (per pupil) | €6 |
| Lower secondary schools (per pupil) | €7 |
| Upper secondary schools (per pupil) | €8 |
Group rates with mandatory reservation; no prices are published for individual visitors.
Accessibility
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Kids & families
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Getting there & parking
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Amenities & dining
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Events & venue rental
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Plan your visit
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 45 min |
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| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Guided tour of about 45 minutes by reservation via the website, by telephone or by e-mail. The route illustrates the historical stages of marble extraction and transport and the hard working conditions of the quarrymen. |
