The Ponti di Vara are the most spectacular remnants of the old Ferrovia Marmifera, a daring engineering feat that allowed the transportation of marble from the quarries of Carrara to the sawmills on the plain and to the port docks.
The route of the Pisa-Genoa railway line, with the Avenza station opened in 1862, passed almost five kilometers from the city center, a problem that was solved a few years later with the opening of the branch line to the Carrara-San Martino station (1866, now suppressed). The existence of this subsidiary section created the preconditions for the construction of a railway that would solve the age-old problem of downstream transportation of marble, which until then had been entrusted to the very old system of animal-drawn wagons.
The work, undertaken by a private company, began in 1871, and five years later the first section of the cyclopean structure was inaugurated, linking the loading docks at Marina di Carrara to the extraction basins. In 1887 work began on the extension of the route, with the aim of also reaching the sites located at higher elevations, where the major quarrying centers were located. To achieve this, major engineering works were put in place, which went on to form the most mind-boggling part of the route. At the end of the works (1890), the Ferrovia Marmifera extended for more than twenty-two kilometers, reaching the remarkable altitude of 455 meters above sea level (near Ravaccione) and facing slopes that could reach, in some sections, 70 per thousand, on standard gauge tracks.
Among the infrastructure, all of which is still clearly legible, the long tunnels (the one at Tarnone reaches 1274 meters in length), and the very tall viaducts stand out: among these, none has been able to capture the imagination of visitors as much as the Ponti di Vara, the large viaducts that cross the Miseglia basin joining the Vara tunnel to the Monte Croce tunnel.
The ensemble now consists of three bridges, but the one along the Miseglia Fantiscritti road is a modern accomplishment (1964), dating from the period when the route was converted to road transport. Of the two nineteenth-century viaducts, on the other hand, the smaller one, known as the Canalpiccino, leads to the Torano reservoir and stands on three high arches, while the larger one, with its five arches 38 meters high (at its highest point), is undoubtedly the most admired .
A must-see stop for tourists, this bridge has been reproduced in a large number of brochures, picture postcards and photographs, eventually becoming one of the best-known symbols of the city of Carrara. A monumental presence, closing off the Fantiscritti valley like a scenic backdrop, the bridge has been used as a set for films and television commercials, but its existence was not always welcomed: the opening of the Ferrovia Marmifera (Marble Railway) in fact jeopardized the ancient trade of the bovari, the historic suppliers of the oxen used to transport the marble. In 1899, less than ten years after the end of the works, a group of fierce bovari therefore decided to sabotage the railway line by blowing up its most daring and symbolic infrastructure: the central pylon of the largest among the Ponti di Vara was then loaded with a ten-kilogram mine, causing an explosion that ripped through the silence of the night. The attack, however, failed in its intent to collapse the viaduct, which was only partially damaged: the three reinforcing arches, built to further strengthen the damaged pillars, are still clearly visible, an eternal reminder of these social conflicts.
Supplanted by road transport, the glorious Marmifera Railway on dismantled in 1964; some of its facilities were abandoned, others, including the Ponti di Vara, were converted to road traffic and are still fully integrated into the routes of the mountain road system.