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.

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 Zucchero spent most of his childhood here
• Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and his fianc e Veronica Berti live here, as do Bocelli's children and his ex-wife.
• Tennis players Adriano Panatta and Paolo Bertolucci
• 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 Mazzoni grew up in Forte dei Marmi.

Twin towns

• Etterbeek, Belgium

See also

• Tourism in Italy

External links

• Website of the Comune of Forte dei Marmi
• Web pages about meetings with the sculptor Henry Moore in Forte Dei Marmi

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