a coveted treasure of the Italian Alps
In Italy, there are magical white mountains: these are the Apuan Alps, crisscrossed by torrents that have been polishing the rock for millennia. It is on this “land rich in marbles” (dives marmoribus tellus)as the poet Namazianus described it, in the 5th century, that the Romans built their empire.
At the time, Luni marble (named after the ancient port) was considered one of the purest, whitest and most precious materials in the world. It will remain so. It is he that Donatello and Michelangelo used during the Renaissance. He is also found in the Freedom Tower in New York, the Oslo Opera House, the Taj Mahal in India and the Capitol in Washington DC.
In 2023, it will represent 25 billion euros on the international stone market, or 22% of global production. There are several varieties, Calacatta, Bianco di Carrara and Statuario.
Certainly, with the introduction of new technologies, the arduousness has reduced considerably and, above all, the extraction of this material has accelerated exponentially: more marble has been extracted during the last thirty years than during the two millennia previous ones.
Only a very small percentage is intended for the artistic world (1%). A good part is used for architecture and decoration, but more than half is dedicated to the manufacture of calcium carbonate powder, used for numerous applications: from the food industry to paper mills, from the production of cement to agriculture, from paints to cosmetics, from fertilizers to whitening agents for toothpastes.
Intensive exploitation which worries environmental defenders.