The Candoglia Marble and the “Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano”: A Renowned Georesource to Be Potentially Designed as Global Heritage Stone

Giovanna Antonella Dino, Alessandro Borghi, Daniele Castelli, Francesco Canali, Elio Corbetta and Barry Cooper
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Giovanna Antonella Dino: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Torino, Via Valperga Caluso, 35, 10125 Torino, Italy
Alessandro Borghi: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Torino, Via Valperga Caluso, 35, 10125 Torino, Italy
Daniele Castelli: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Torino, Via Valperga Caluso, 35, 10125 Torino, Italy
Francesco Canali: Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano, Via Carlo Maria Martini, 1, 20121 Milano, Italy
Elio Corbetta: Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano, Via Carlo Maria Martini, 1, 20121 Milano, Italy
Barry Cooper: School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 17, 1-13

Abstract: Marbles from Alpine area have been widely employed to build and decorate masterpieces and buildings which often represent the cultural heritage of an area (statuary, historic buildings and sculptures). Candoglia marble, object of the present research, is one of the most famous and appreciated marbles from Alpine area; it has been quarried since Roman times in the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola (VCO; Piemonte—NW Italy) extractive area. Candoglia Marble outcrops are present as lenses within the high-grade paragneisses of the Ivrea Zone, a visible section of deep continental crust characterised by amphibolite- to granulite-facies metamorphism (Palaeozoic period). Candoglia calcitic marble (80–85% CaCO 3 and the 15–20% other minerals) shows a characteristic pink to gray colour and a coarse-grained texture (>3 mm): frequent centimetre-thick dark-greenish silicate layers (mainly represented by diopside and tremolite) characterize the texture of the marble. It has been largely used in local rural constructions and historical buildings, but its most famous application has been (and still is) for the “Duomo di Milano” construction (fourteenth century). The Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano carried out the anthropogenic activities dealing with the Candoglia marble exploitation; it has to be highlighted that the company have managed the Marble exploitation during the last seven centuries and that the quarry itself is a tangible sign of the development of extraction and heritage in the VCO area. Candoglia marble can be recognized as a significant example of a “Global Heritage Stone Resource”: its exploitation from quarry to building (the Duomo di Milano) well represents the close correlation between stone and cultural heritage, between georesources and humankind development.

Keywords: Candoglia marble; Duomo di Milano; petrographic analysis; geoheritage; cultural stone (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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