Tuscany as a region has always been the leading area in terms of the international stone industry.
It is here that deposits of marble and stone are located with great traditions that have made tuscan architecture and sculpture well-known and appreciated the world over.
While the apuan marbles, the oldest materials on the markets today, marked the glory of rome, the other tuscan stones may claim to have embodied later important historical periods. Among the quality materials quarried in tuscany, there is first and foremost the extensive family of grey stones found almost everywhere throughout the region and especially in fiorenzuola on the tuscan-emilian apennines in the province of florence.
These are stones of a uniform colour and a decidedly compact structure and were used to decorate the squares and renaissance buildings in florence as well as many other buildings throughout the region.
Travertines also feature in the range of tuscan materials and the most significant deposits are located in siena and grosseto. These materials have been very popular ever since the etruscans and are widely used in the characteristic old towns in and around siena, even today, when combined with terracotta, they are the most obvious characteristic of the urban environment there.
Not only travertines are found in the two provinces of siena and grosseto though. Siena is above all famous for the production of giallo siena marble, a material of a unique colour with a very long tradition while grosseto has become one of architects and designers’ favourite places where they can find warm-coloured stones (pietra santafiora, pietra dorata, grigio perla toscano), very much a feature of today’s trends in architecture and design.
The province of leghorn is also known for its natural stone. Here are the deposits of noisette fleury classico and noisette fleury grigio with their attractive colours that satisfy the requirements of many demanding customers.
Tuscany’s production of natural stone materials is completed by the extraction of grey granite from elba. This material has been increasingly quarried since the 60s thanks to the rising success of granite on the markets in general.
Current quarry production in tuscany is little less than 2 million tons in blocks carried out by over 100 companies employing 1.216 workers whereas the processing industry counts over 1100 companies employing just under 6000 workers
|
|
![Download image](../../thumb/download.asp?fileName=55uk-area-affioramento-marmi-montagnola-senese.jpg&downloadURL=/uploads/imgup/&etifile=Travertine outcrop in the montagnola senese area. The most important outcrops of "Giallo Siena" are found in the area of Varco a Pelli and Molli Quarries )
