Forte dei Marmi
Encyclopedia
Forte dei Marmi is a sea town and comune
in the province of Lucca
, in northern Tuscany
(Italy
). It is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians.
The population of the town, amounting to some 7,700, nearly triples during the summer, because of the hundreds of tourist who mainly come from Florence
, Milan
, Germany
, and Russia
.
Tourism is the principal activity of Forte dei Marmi's citizens.
In Italian
Forte dei Marmi means "Fort of the marbles". The town takes its name from the fortress that rises in the middle of the main square, built under Grand Duke Peter Leopold, who was to become Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
, in 1788.
The fortress was built to defend the coast from outer attacks, but in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century it became the place where the marble quarried from the Alpi Apuane (they are the same mountains of the famous marble of Carrara
) was stocked before being sent to the pier for shipping.
Forte dei Marmi's field hockey
team is in the Italian A-league.
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
in the province of Lucca
Province of Lucca
The Province of Lucca is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lucca.It has an area of 1,773 km², and a total population of 372,244...
, in northern Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
(Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
). It is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians.
The population of the town, amounting to some 7,700, nearly triples during the summer, because of the hundreds of tourist who mainly come from Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Tourism is the principal activity of Forte dei Marmi's citizens.
In Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
Forte dei Marmi means "Fort of the marbles". The town takes its name from the fortress that rises in the middle of the main square, built under Grand Duke Peter Leopold, who was to become Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...
, in 1788.
The fortress was built to defend the coast from outer attacks, but in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century it became the place where the marble quarried from the Alpi Apuane (they are the same mountains of the famous marble of Carrara
Carrara
Carrara is a city and comune in the province of Massa-Carrara , notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence....
) was stocked before being sent to the pier for shipping.
Forte dei Marmi's field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
team is in the Italian A-league.
Main sights
The Fortress (Italian Fortino), after being employed as a postal service office, is now a museum of satirical art. It was recently damaged by an earthquake. Each Wednesday, a market is held which has become famous for deep discounts on designer clothes, leather goods, etc.Famous residents
- Rock singer ZuccheroZuccheroAdelmo Fornaciari, Commander , more commonly known by his stage name Zucchero Fornaciari or simply Zucchero /ˈtsukkero/, is an Italian rock singer. His music is largely inspired by gospel, blues and rock music, and alternates between ballads and more rhythmic boogie-like pieces.Zucchero is the...
spent most of his childhood here - Italian tenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
Andrea BocelliAndrea BocelliAndrea Bocelli, is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident....
and his fiance Veronica Berti live here, as do Bocelli's children and his ex-wife. - Tennis players Adriano PanattaAdriano PanattaAdriano Panatta is a former professional tennis player from Italy. He is best remembered for winning the French Open in 1976, and for being the only player to ever defeat Björn Borg at Roland Garros, which he did on two occasions.-Career:...
and Paolo BertolucciPaolo BertolucciPaolo Bertolucci is an Italian former tennis player, currently working as sport commentator for Italian Sky TV.Born at Forte dei Marmi, Bertolucci won the Davis Cup with Italy in 1976. His greatest success on tour was the victory at the 1977 Hamburg Masters, where he beat Manuel Orantes in the... - The British sculptor and artist Henry Moore had a studio in Forte dei Marmi and took up residence at the Hotel Ritz Forte Dei Marmi.
- Italian stylist Giorgio Armani has a villa in Forte dei Marmi.
- Italian writer Carlo MazzoniCarlo MazzoniCarlo Mazzoni is an Italian novelist and songwriter.-Life:Carlo Mazzoni was born and lives in Milan. His father, Alessandro, is a yacht broker, his mother, Susanna, is a dentist. He also has a brother, Michele, who studied acting in New York and lives right now in Rome...
grew up in Forte dei Marmi.
External links
- Website of the Comune of Forte dei Marmi
- Web pages about meetings with the sculptor Henry Moore in Forte Dei Marmi