Skip to main content

Pietrasanta: the town of marbles

Pietrasanta is known as the town of marbles, which characterize its most important buildings, such as the Cathedral of San Martino (XIII-XIV century) in Romanesque-Gothic style and the Church of Sant’Agostino (XIV century), in Romanesque style, with the adjoining late Baroque bell tower.

The entire area of Versilia is close to the among most famous in the world marble quarries and, since the late Middle Ages, has generated generations of sculptors, up to arrive, in the post-World War II to welcome real studies and international workshops of marble and bronze artists.

Mitoraj, Mirò, Botero and Pomodoro are just some of the most famous names of artists who lived and worked in Pietrasanta.

Today Pietrasanta is a place of continuous exhibitions of painting or sculpture, showed along its streets, inside its art galleries and its workshops. The MuSA is the Museum of Sculpture and Architecture that explains how the extraction of marble takes place, and shows how the most important works of the city were worked and created.

A city of Art

On the main square of the city stands the Torre delle Ore, in Gothic style, the Colonna del Marzocco, Palazzo Panichi Carli and the Monument to Leopold II.

Palazzo Moroni houses the Archaeological Museum with several Etruscan finds and The cloister of Sant’Agostino houses the important collection of the Museum of sketches.

Beautiful are the narrow streets of ancient Pietrasanta, such as the Via del Riccetto, paved with river pebbles, or Via della Fontanella, with the astronomical observatory “Spartaco Palla”.

The city also has a network of underground tunnels, in addition to the walls, clearly visible from the square, from which you can enjoy a spectacular view, which embraces the entire Versilia plain from Viareggio to Forte dei Marmi.