Travertino Classico

Stone Information

Travertine is an incredibly resistant and compact natural stone , widely used in construction. In particular, travertine is a chemical sedimentary rock consisting mainly of calcium carbonate minerals.
The term travertine derives from "tiburtinus" as it comes largely from an area under Tivoli. Travertine, in fact, was one of the materials most used by the Romans for the construction of buildings and public works, so much so that it later became famous with the name Roman travertine. Among the most famous monuments worldwide made with travertine rock it is impossible not to mention the Colosseum , St. Peter's Basilica or the Trevi Fountain .
Travertine is considered an extremely versatile rock also due to the variety of colors in which it is available. The age of the stone and the incorporation of oxides and other impurities (a normal phenomenon given the porosity of this rock) gives life to a series of different travertines in addition to the classic travertine with many shades starting from milky white up to walnut, as well as from pink to scarlet red .

Is travertine marble?

One of the first questions asked when talking about travertine marble is the following: is travertine marble or not? The answer is quite simple: no. However, it is important to clarify why we often hear travertine marble spoken of in a completely natural way, even by experts in the stone sector.

Technically, according to the geological classification of rocks , marble and travertine are two different things: travertine is part of the sedimentary limestone rocks , while marble is a metamorphic rock . To simplify, a sedimentary rock originates from the deposition of sediments over time, while a metamorphic rock originates from a sedimentary rock which also undergoes significant changes in pressure and temperature, with times that can reach up to millions of years.

The classification of marble, granite, travertine and stone is a type of commercial classification , not a geological one: the Romans, for example, used the term "marmora" to generically define polishable stones. For this reason, it is not strange to hear "travertine marble" pronounced in common language.

Ultimately, travertine is very often sold as marble or limestone but in reality travertine, from a technical point of view, represents neither of the two since travertine rock is characterized by a completely different geological formation process , which it can be found not only from a chemical and physical point of view, but also from a visual point of view.

These travertines are often found in central Italy due to the widespread presence of thermal waters. The second type of travertine is generally created thanks to so-called "petrifying" springs which are characterized by a high salt content. In this case, when the groundwater exits into the atmosphere, there is a rebalancing between the dissolved carbon dioxide and that present in the atmosphere , which leads to the precipitation of calcium carbonate and the formation of calcite encrustations.

From a mineralogical point of view, travertine is almost entirely composed of calcium carbonate . Other elements present in travertine, albeit minimally, are quartz, clay minerals, manganese and iron hydroxides, gypsum, white mica, sulfur and chlorites . The presence of plants (such as leaves, algae, stems, etc.) is another characterizing factor from a morphogenetic point of view: travertine is in fact characterized by a vacuolar structure , where the voids (incisions or cavities up to a few centimeters) are generally due to the deterioration of these organic elements within the rock .

As regards the physical-chemical and mechanical characteristics of travertine, its specific weight is a maximum of 2500 kg/m3 while the resistance/compression can reach up to 1200 kg/cm2. These parameters certainly depend on the voids in the rock: the higher the presence of voids, the lighter and more fragile the stone. However, when the voids exceed 20-30% of the total volume then we no longer speak of travertine but of " sponge stone ".

Another peculiarity of travertine is that it tends to harden and compact over time once exposed to air: this is because the transformation of calcium bicarbonate never ceases as long as this element is present.

The travertine quarries. Where is it extracted?

The best travertines are extracted in the plain below Tivoli and in particular in the municipalities of Tivoli and Guidonia where around thirty travertine quarries are currently operational . Beyond the Lazio area , which obviously maintains a certain primacy of tradition and quality in the processing of the product, the main national extraction basins are located in Abruzzo (in Ascoli Piceno, for example, churches, buildings and squares are entirely built in travertine ), in Tuscany (especially in Rapolano Terme in the province of Siena), in Umbria and in the Marche.

Looking at travertine quarrying activity worldwide, there are other varieties of travertine (often mistaken for Roman travertine) quarried in other areas of the world. The areas outside of Italy where the greatest number of travertine quarries are found are North Africa (particularly Tunisia and Egypt with yellow travertine), the Middle East (especially Iran and Turkey where varieties such as Turkish travertine, Iranian travertine, red travertine and titanium travertine) and South America (Chile).

Other

Travertine Classic Slabs and Tiles

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