You are here: Home > Blog> The black gold from Portovenere

The black gold from Portovenere

Fun facts about the Portoro Marble, son of the Golfo dei Poeti

The Portoro (or Marble of Portovenere) is a fine variety of black marble from the beautiful Gulf of Poets.
Its look is extremely decorative, the color is an intense and brilliant black with golden veins.
"Its name comes from the Italian translation of the French term porte d'or (" Golden Door ") by which it was called during the French domination. Originally it was called "mixed yellow and black", later called "Giada of Portovenere." In English this variety of marble is known as the black and gold" (source: Portoroextra).
The outcrops of Portoro extend from the islands of Tinetto, Tino and Palmaria to Portovenere, reaching the valley of Biassa and continuing north-west to Pignone where they tend to disappear. The main source is located on the main islands.
Historically, Portoro is known and used as a valuable material by Romans. We find the remains in the cardo-decumanus floor of the city of Luni and also on the exterior facade of the Amphitheatre of Luni (approximately from the II century BC). In Roman times there was an extensive use of Portoro marble for Imperial villas and probably it has also been used for the construction of the temple dedicated to Venus over which was built - time after - Saint Peter Church, in Portovenere.

The rich findings of marble will bring in 1800 to an intense "reaping" - it took such a development that in 1862 there were thirty surveyed. One of the most efficient quarries was the Cava Merlini on the Palmaria Island (1908) which occupied many miners. The work was very hard and very dangerous.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century the use of this marble also spread outside of Liguria to France, Belgium and Switzerland to adorn palaces and castles like those of Versailles, Marly and Compiegne.

It is said that the Portoro marble became the rage when Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione who was mistress of Napoleon III got to play their rooms with this stone. Later it was also exported to the United States where for example dressed the screening room at Paramount.
Currently active quarries are three: one to the graces and two on Mount Castellana, the latter are distinguished from the other for the compactness of the material but only the quarry on the slope overlooking the city of La Spezia extracts the most prestigious quality with black and gold vein.

« Previous

The black gold from Portovenere

Fun facts about the Portoro Marble, son of the Golfo dei Poeti

Login

Use your ID and password to sign in