The Ten Books on Architecture, 2.7.1

Vitruvius  translated by Joseph Gwilt

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Of Stone Quarries

7I have described the different species of lime and sand, and their qualities. Stone quarries, from which square and rubble stones are procured and prepared for the purposes of building, will now be considered. The qualities of these differ very much. Some stone is soft; the red, for instance, found in the neighbourhood of Rome, in the countries of the Pallienses, Fidenates, and Albanæ. Some moderately so, as the Tiburtine, Amiternine, Soractine, and those of that sort. Others are hard, even as flints. There are many other species, as the red and black sandstone (tophus) of Campania, and the white sort of Umbria, Picenum, and Venice, which is cut with a saw like wood.

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