MASSA

massa, a town of tuscany, italy, the joint capital with carrara of the province of massa and carrara, and sharing with it the episcopal see, 20 m. s.e. of spezia by rail, 246 ft. above sea-level. pop. (1901), 10,559 (town); 26,118 (commune). the palazzo ducale (now the prefecture) was erected in 1701, and was a summer residence of napoleon's sister, elisa baciocchi, princess of lucca, who caused the ancient cathedral opposite to be destroyed. the hills round the town yield marble, and there is a narrow-gauge railway to the marina d'avenza, where the marble is shipped. massachusetts (an indian name, originally applied to a tribe of indians), one of the original thirteen states of the american union, bounded on the n. by vermont and new hampshire, on the e. by the atlantic, on the s. by rhode island and connecticut, and on the w. by new york. it lies approximately between 41° 15 and 42° 50 n. lat. and 69° 55 and 73° 30 w. long. the bulk of its area--which is about 8266 sq. m. (of which 227 are water)--forms a parallelogram of 130 m. e. and