LIFT THE VEIL OF DARKNESS...
 Let the sun brighten your path as look at the Fortress of Avenza whose origins were lost in the darkness of the past. Come down to Avenza from Florence. Follow the motorway A 11 on Firenze-Mare till it connects with the A 12 Livorno-Genoa road. Then you will be directed with indications till you reach Marina di Massa after about 4 kilometers.
Trace the route to Avenza from the 'Tabula Peutingeriana', which is the ancient Roman road map (now preserved in Vienna). The name of the fortress was derived from the old lost in the mists of time Celtic-Ligurian origin, which is A-enza or the river. Documented as early as 950 B.C., archaeological finds of the 18th century have established its Roman origins in the close by region of Nazzano.
 Structured in a vantage position on the Via Aemilia Scauri, called Romea or Francignea, near the Tyrrheanian Sea, Avenza was just 3 kilometers from the old city of Luni which was a great center of trade during the Middle Ages. With its growing importance, Avenza was soon incorporated into the Vicarage of Carrara as an important center for mining the famous Carrara marble. The entire town was transformed with fortified walls as a military outpost. The castle walls abutted the fortified walls of the city and were re-structured with protective walls in the 14th century by the Lord of Lucca, Castruccio Castracani and in the 15th century by the Marquises Malaspina whose power heralded their name. In the second half of the 15th century, Alberico Cybo Malaspina drained the marshy areas and re-styled the castle with more fortification and the Avenza Fortress became a stronghold. Though the people of the town tried in vain to get their independence from the commune of Carrara in 1848, it was to no avail.
 But today only the immense Castruccio tower is the silent witness to the fortifications of the 15th to the 17th centuries. The occupants of the castle re-structured the fortifications to house the new advances in weaponry and ammunition. But the Avenza Fortress was sold by the new Republic of Italy to private individuals who turned the entire area into a quarry. The timely intervention of the German historian, Theodor Momsen saved it from the hammers of the quarry owners. Come and walk in its ancient Piazza Finelli and see a very old statue of Guiseppe Mazzini by the veteran sculptor, Vatteroni. Walk into its parish church of St. Peter and notice on one of the old doors of the fortress in front of you, a moving marble sculpture of St. Mark.
Can you imagine the imposing huge castle before the quarry owners dismantled its gigantic structure? It had three huge round towers and a quadrangular tower affixed to its walls. The castle was separated by a road from the fortress by an adjoining Casino del Principe which was a 16th fortified living quarters of the nobility who resided there. This manor was merged with towers at an angle with the walls of the town protecting it. Though changed with the passage of time, it still stands as a mute witness with a headstone carved into its façade which can be seen as you come up from the chapel of the castle. Only remnants remain of its fortifications and its walls.
Come and sit around the table where the secrets and the strategies of war were discussed. Feel the spirit of bravery and challenge as you see the old tower rising to meet the ambience of the new world. Let the power of the past encircle you and protect you with its fortifications.
LET TIME SCULPT ITS PATH..
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