In an episode of Fino a qua tutto bene (so far so good), a movie about a group of friends that just graduated from the University of Pisa, two people are talking at a party. Marta invites Andrea to a house someone lent her. That house is ai Ronchi. Where?

Senti, Maddalena mi ha lasciato la sua casa ai Ronchi, vuoi venire con me?

Listen, Maddalena left me her house in the Ronchis [seaside places up the coast], do you want to come with me?

Captions 37-38, Fino a qui tutto bene Film - Part 21

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We wanted to know where Ronchi or the Ronchis is located, so we did a little research and learned that according to Wikipedia the village is Ronchi di Massa (in northern Tuscany, on the sea) but was at one time called Marina dei Ronchi di Apuania. We wondered about the name and why it was in the plural. Maybe it's a bit like talking about the Hamptons on Long Island. 

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Massa-Carrara is a province in Tuscany. Why is there a hyphen?

Massa and Carrara were two cities. Originally Massa was Mazza (which means "club," "stick," or "bat") which makes sense if we look at the city's stemma (coat of arms, emblem) with a club in the middle. Carrara on the other hand, got its name from the pre-Roman (Celtic or Ligurian) element "kar" (stone), through the Latin "carrariae" meaning "quarries." Carrara (previously spelled Carara when it was part of the Duchy of Modena) is known for its marble quarries. 

photo of Carrara stemma: MostEpic

The two cities made up the Duchy of Massa and Principality of Carrara from 1473 until 1836 (or 1829 according to some historians). They were incorporated into the Duchy of Modena (in Emilia) around 1829 until around 1859, when they became part of Tuscany, heading the province, Massa e Carrara.

During the Italian Fascist period, it was common for the government to merge some towns with others, giving it a new name. One of these was Apuania, which incorporated Massa, Carrara, and Montignoso. The name came from le Alpi apuane (the Apuan Alps), which are the nearby mountains. So the province of Massa e Carrara was accordingly renamed Provincia di Apuania.

Colonnata è un piccolo paesino che è incastonato nelle Alpi Apuane.

Colonnata is a small village that is nestled in the Apuan Alps.

Caption 14, L'Italia che piace Esperienze Gastronomiche - Part 3

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The adjective "Apuan" is linked to the population called Liguri Apuani, who inhabited a part of the Apennine mountain chain on the Ligurian side in pre-Roman times. Apuania was constituted in 1938 but after the fall of fascism and the end of World War II, it was dissolved. Massa and Carrara remained linked with a hyphen to make them co-equal. Massa-Carrara is capo provinciale (the capital city of the province). Montignoso became part of another city. 

Both Massa and Carrara are divided into administrative zones including seaside zones. So there is Marina di Massa and Marina di Carrara,  both seaside areas. Ronchi is a hamlet (which in Italian is called una frazione) of Marina di Massa. 

We haven't yet discovered exactly why Ronchi is referred to in the plural. We did learn that the road in the area that runs parallel to the beach is called lungomare (this is typical) and has two sections: lungomare di levante and lungomare di ponente. This is a fancy way of saying east and west. Levante refers to where the sun comes up. Il sole si leva (the sun rises) and ponente refers to where the sun sets. Il sole si pone (the sun sets itself down). Two beach clubs are Bagno Ronchi di levante and Bagno Ronchi di ponente. That could be a clue. If we learn more, we will update this lesson. 

In the process of searching for the answer, we did learn some interesting facts about the Massa-Carrara area and its history!

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