Duchy of Massa and Carrara 1851, thanks to the English engineer and tycoon William Walton. In 1846 the Count Francesco del Medico proposed to the Duke Francis V the construction of the Marble Railway of Carrara, to link the marble quarries to the sea and thereby facilitating the transport of blocks to the areas for sorting, loading, and shipping. This project was also suspended for lack of funds. The Marble Railway was finally built after the Italian unification (1871–1890). In the last years of the duchy, an increasing number of clashes was seen between the liberals and the ducal government, especially in Carrara. The territory
Lordship of Carrara Lordship of Carrara The Signoria di Carrara (Italian: Lordship of Carrara) was an Italian feudal state centered in Carrara, in what is now northern Tuscany. It also included the towns of Avenza and Marina di Carrara and the basin of the Carrione river. When emperor Henry VII suppressed the bishopric of Luni, once the main fief in the area, he assigned the territory of the former free commune of Carrara to his ally the Republic of Pisa. The lordship of Carrara was subsequently held by different families and cities, such as Lucca and the Visconti of Milan, and was finally