The Portal of the ex ducal apple-orchard
A wonderful marble Renaissance portal lies right out of the ancient embattled cybee walls in the direction of the old "Borgo del Ponte" (Village of the Bridge) and of the territory of
Carrara and is today completely immersed in the new town.
Nowadays the portal is the only remain of the pleasant ducal garden and orchard, which from the 16th century were the boast of Massa's Lordship. It is totally in white marble and for this reason it was uncommon for the architectural production of the time.
The structure is dominated by an absolutely "rational" balance of the composition, without ornamental concessions. The measured centering of the arch is framed by the large and stern trabeation and by the strong marble ingots of the side pilaster strips, which lie on two tasteful artificial pedestals. Just over the basement are two beautiful hermae, male and female, which probably symbolise the dualistic principles of the natural forces.
The historical memories of the precious portal recall two now abraded epigraphs which have been set there in two different times of the construction to define the natural context of its use.
The first epigraph which dates back to 1572, was probably the chronology of the raising of the work and it had the following inscription:
"Albericus Cybo Malaspina Princeps-ex rudi praedio-amoenissimus hortos confecit".
On the right pedestal in fact the final Latin numerals "XII" remain.
The original building of the door as for the properties of the architectural plan and for the mould of the two hermae, dates probably back to the cultural circle of the high Florentine mannerism of the second half of the 16th century. The portal can be exactly ascribed to the great workshop of Bartolomeo Ammanati: the relationships between this sculptor and architect and Massa's Lordship are proved by documents, as the relations between Massa's princes and the Medicean court.