<P> The main and only feasible overland route connecting the coastal plain of Liguria to the north Italian plain runs through Bocchetta di Altare . It has always been of strategic importance . Defenders of north Italy have had to control it since ancient times, as the various fortifications placed there testify . Trenitalia, the state railway system, highly developed on the coastal plain, now traverses the mountains routinely through a number of railway tunnels, such as the one at Giovi Pass . </P> <P> The southeastern border of the Ligurian Apennines is the Fiume Magra, which projects into the Tyrrhenian Sea south of La Spezia, and the Fiume Taro, which runs in the opposite direction to join the Po River . The divide between the two upper river valleys is the Passo della Cisa (Cisa Pass). Under it (two tunnels) runs the Autostrada della Cisa between Spezia and Parma . </P> <P> Starting at Cisa Pass, the mountain chains turn further to the southeast to cross the peninsula along the border between the Emilia - Romagna and Tuscany regions . They are also named the Tuscan--Emilian Apennines west of the Futa pass and the Tuscan--Romagnol Apennines east of it, or just the Tuscan Apennines . They extend to the upper Tiber River . The highest point is Monte Cimone at 2,165 m (7,103 ft). </P> <P> A separate branch, the Apuan Alps, goes to the southwest bordering the coast south of La Spezia . Whether they are to be considered part of the Apennines is a matter of opinion; certainly, they are part of the Apennine System . Topographically only the valley of the River Serchio, which running parallel to the coast turns and exits into the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Pisa, separates the Apuan Alps from the Apennines; geologically the rock is of a slightly different composition: marble . The Roman marble industry was centered at Luna, and is now active in Carrara . </P>

Mountain range in tuscany part of the appennines