Punta Bianca and Santa Croce Monastery
Punta Bianca is situated at the southern tip of the Montemarcello promontory; its name derives from the white limestone rocky crops which were used in the Roman epoch for decorative purposes in the buildings of the town of Luni.
Nearby, in the Mediterranean maquis, there is Santa Croce Monastery. It was built by the Benedictine monks in 1176 on the remains of a small church risen by a monk in memory of a boat which, according to the legend, mysteriously landed without sailors and transporting Nicodemo's crucifix and the "Preziosissimo Sangue" relic. What is left of the old church is the apse and part of the presbytery from which a church was built: in it, you can find a wooden crucifix of Oriental tradition, called "Crocifisso del Corvo".
The monastery was visited by Dante who negotiated the peace between the bishop of Luni and the marquis of Malaspina. In 1800 the monastery was seized and sold to an entrepreneur from Carrara who was in the marble business. The man committed the building of a castle which is today the seat of a House for Spiritual Excercises of the barefooted Carmelites.
