As we were driving up the mountain, the scale was breathtaking! It was a foggy day so the peak of the mountains went up so high they weren’t even visible. Everywhere I looked I could see different colors and sizes of marble blocks being extracted by huge machines. However, I often thought about how when the mine was first established in, cutting and transporting the marble used to be an incredibly strenuous and dangerous task. Also throughout the tour, I kept thinking about how long marble has been extracted from Carrara:
The ancient Romans used to mine marble from this quarry for their feats of engineering. Michelangelo handpicked a block of marble here to carve his masterpiece, the statue of David. Today, marble is still extracted here and is shipped all over the world for many applications from countertops and bathtubs, to things like cosmetics and toothpaste.
Swanson School of Engineering 