The melon is the fruit of Cucumis melo, a species of the Cucurbitaceae family whose origin is still uncertain.
The term melon refers to both the plant and the fruit.
The melon fruit is bulky, oval or roundish, and 'sliced' divisions are visible on the skin. The flesh varies from white to orange and is juicy and very fragrant. The central, fibrous cavity contains many seeds. The skin is solid, smooth or reticulated, and the colour can vary from pale yellow to shades of green.
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At the foot of the Apuan Alps, Carrara is unique in the world for its marble quarries. The “white gold of the Apuan Alps”: this is how the marble of Carrara is defined, a precious stone with which important works have been realised and that has made this town, for centuries devoted to its extraction and processing, great.
One of the first people to venture into marble quarrying were the Romans who, by inserting beams of fig wood inside natural fissures in the rock, filled these with water until they were completely impregnated and caused the rock to split. This extraction technique remained unchanged, if not with minor variations, until the Renaissance when Michelangelo began to frequent the Carrara area to directly choose the raw material for his works: it was from Carrara, transported along the Arno, that the block from which the Maestro sculpted the famous David came.
Marble thus became an important raw material for the construction, furnishing and decoration of public buildings and patrician residences.
Even today, skilful artists and craftsmen still work this material with mastery, creating stupendous works of art and decorative objects that become true furnishing accessories.