Fantiscritti, Miseglia quarrying basin (Miseglia-Fantiscritti quarrying basin; Fantiscritti quarrying basin), Carrara, Massa-Carrara Province, Tuscany, Italyi

Regional Level Types
Fantiscritti	Group of Quarries
Miseglia quarrying basin (Miseglia-Fantiscritti quarrying basin; Fantiscritti quarrying basin)	Basin
Carrara	Commune
Massa-Carrara Province	Province
Tuscany	Region
Italy	Country

Fantiscritti, Miseglia quarrying basin (Miseglia-Fantiscritti quarrying basin; Fantiscritti quarrying basin), Apuan Alps, Tuscany, Italy

Group of quarries in the hydrographic basin of Fosso di Canal Grande, the main branch of the Miseglia (Miseglia-Fantiscritti) valley.

The locality name "Fantiscritti" or "Fantiscritti quarries" reported in the literature and written on the labels of the mineral specimens can be interpreted in different ways:

- the Fantiscritti proper quarrying area (hereinafter, the Fantiscritti quarries), i.e. the area to the north of the old marble loading yard of Poggio Fantiscritti (see coordinates above). It includes the underground quarries named Galleria Ravaccione or Quarry No. 84 (the underground exploitation area, whose coordinates are 44°5'43.5"N, 10°7'58"E, is located ca. 600 m to the north of the tunnel portal on the old marble loading yard of Poggio Fantiscritti), Verdichiara or Quarry No. 88 (44°5'41"N, 10°8'1"E), and Galleria Fantiscritti or Quarry No. 87 (44°5'40.5"N, 10°7'58.5"E), the open pit quarries named Fantiscritti B or Quarry No. 92 (44°5'34"N, 10°8'4"E) and Fantiscritti A or Quarry No. 85 (44°5'42"N, 10°8'0.5"E), and also the Scaloni quarries (Scaloni B and Scaloni A);

- the quarrying area located at the head of the hydrographic basin of Fosso di Canal Grande (sometimes also referred to as the Fantiscritti basin), which surrounds the marble loading yard of Poggio Fantiscritti. It includes in addition to the abovementioned quarries also: the quarries Strinato B (Lucchetti) or Quarry No. 89, Tagliata or Quarry No. 78, Fossalunga or Quarry No. 71 (44°5'52"N, 10°8'23"E), Bocca di Canalgrande or Quarry No. 100 (44°5'24"N, 10°8'10"E), Canalgrande B (ex Montecatini) or Quarry No. 95, Canalgrande Alto or Quarry No. 83 (44°5'44"N, 10°8'54"E), and the abandoned Tecchia quarry; the groups of quarries Fior di Chiara (Fiordichiara), and Carbonera (Carbonera-Vennai-Ciresuola);

- the entire valley corresponding to the hydrographic basin of Fosso di Canal Grande to the northest of Ponti di Vara (in addition to all quarries mentioned above, the quarries Para, Finestra A or Quarry No. 110 [44°5'17"N, 10°8'17"E], and Finestra B or Quarry No. 109 [44°5'16"N, 10°7'58"E] are also included).

Therefore, except in rare cases, the attribution of the specimens generically labelled "Fantiscritti" to a more precise locality is practically impossible.



The toponym Fantiscritti originates from a Roman aedicule, carved in a quarry face. Since the 16th century this artwork, representing full figures of Jupiter, Hercules, and Dionysus, was surrounded by signatures and dates, carved by distinguished and unknown visitors of the quarry. The presence of these inscriptions and the small size of the three carved characters, interpreted as boys or children ("fanti" in the local dialect) by quarrymen, have given rise to the name "Fantiscritti" given to the quarry and the surrounding area. The artwork, detached in June 1863 from the summit of the homonymous quarry, is currently on display at the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara.



The quarries of the Fantiscritti basin are particularly famous for the occurrence of nice specimen of sulfides and sulfosalts (sphalerite, wurtzite, galena, pyrite, boulangerite, bournonite, colusite, enargite, famatinite, geocronite, jordanite, sulvanite, etc.). Greenockite has been found as very small scalenohedral crystals overgrowing acicular crystals of sphalerite or wurtzite. It is also associated with light yellow crystals of sphalerite, usually in epitaxial intergrowths.

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References