Natural Stones

Rock

Red Verona marble

Verona kırmızı mermeri

The pink-red stone of the Verona Arena: a nodular Jurassic limestone full of ammonite fossils, quarried for more than 2,000 years.

Also known as: Rosso Verona · Rosso Ammonitico Veronese · Verona marble

  • Popularly: Natural stone (building and decor)
Polished Red Verona marble: pale nodules in a dark red matrixPhoto: James St. John · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In short

Red Verona marble (Italian “Rosso Verona”) is a nodular ornamental stone quarried near the city of Verona in northern Italy, ranging from pale pink to deep red. Spiral ammonite fossils are often visible in it. Although the trade calls it “marble”, scientifically it is not a marble but a limestone laid down in the open sea during the Jurassic. The Romans built the Verona Arena from it, and in the Middle Ages it adorned buildings from Venice to Parma.

Photos

A fossil ammonite in a slab of Red Verona marble at the Baptistery of ParmaPhoto: Clop · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

How does it form?

Around 150 million years ago, in the Jurassic, what is now northern Italy lay beneath a warm sea. North of Verona there was a high, drowned flat area known as the Trento Plateau. On top of it, very fine lime mud slowly settled together with the remains of creatures living in the open sea. The remains of dead ammonites (extinct sea creatures with coiled shells) and belemnites were buried in this mud. Geologists call this rock unit the Middle–Late Jurassic Rosso Ammonitico Veronese (Verona red ammonite) Formation.

The stone owes its red colour to iron oxide (hematite). Within it lie pale, rounded nodules surrounded by a darker matrix. Under the weight of the overlying layers, parts of the stone dissolved along narrow seams, leaving wavy, clay-coated lines called stylolites. The stone was never heated enough to turn into marble, which is why its fossils are still so easy to see.

What is it used for?

  • Roman buildings: The outer facade and pillars of the Verona Arena are made of red ammonite limestone from Valpolicella; the pink and white kinds used together give the building a two-coloured look. The Romans also shipped blocks to other cities along the nearby Adige River.
  • Middle Ages and Renaissance: The outside of the Baptistery of Parma (begun in 1196) is faced with pink Verona marble. The Doge’s Palace and St Mark’s Basilica in Venice and the cathedrals of Bologna, Parma and Cremona are also named among the buildings that use it. The column-bearing lions at the porch of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo are carved from Red Verona too.
  • Sculpture and decoration: It is used for columns, monuments, statues and inlaid stone floors.
  • Today: Polished, honed or given an aged surface, it is used for flooring, facade cladding, paving and landscaping. In 2020 it was proposed as a candidate “Global Heritage Stone Resource”.

Where is it found?

Today the stone is quarried mainly in the Valpolicella valley, about 20 km north of Verona, between Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella and the village of Monte, on the slopes of Monte Pastello. Hundreds of companies working local and imported stone are based in the area between Valpolicella and Lake Garda.

The Corsi collection at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History holds red ammonite limestone samples from different corners of the Verona area, among them samples from Lugo and Rosaro in Val Pantena and from Castelletto di Brenzone on the shore of Lake Garda. Further east, on the Asiago Plateau in Vicenza, a dark kind from the same rock unit is quarried as “Rosso Asiago”.

What determines its value?

As a building and ornamental stone, its value depends on the vividness and evenness of the colour, the look of the nodules and fossils, whether large, crack-free blocks can be taken from the quarry, how well it polishes and how durable it is outdoors. Deep red kinds with clear ammonites are the most sought after. Its use since Roman times and its place in historic buildings add to its fame.

This information is educational, not buying, selling or investment advice. Value varies enormously with quality and treatment.

How to recognise it

  1. 1

    Pale pink or whitish rounded nodules sit in a darker red matrix, giving the stone a mottled, lumpy look.

  2. 2

    Thin, wavy, dark seam-like lines (stylolites) wind between the nodules.

  3. 3

    On cut surfaces, spiral cross-sections of ammonites or bullet-shaped pieces of belemnites can be seen.

  4. 4

    Being made of calcium carbonate, it fizzes in dilute acid and can be scratched by a steel knife.

Fakes and imitations

What shops usually don’t tell you:

  • “Rosso Asiago”, from the Asiago Plateau in Vicenza, is a very dark kind of the same Jurassic red ammonite limestone and can be mistaken for Red Verona.
  • Red stones quarried near Verona from the younger (Cretaceous) “Scaglia Rossa” limestone are sometimes sold under the same name; they belong to a separate rock unit.

Myths and misconceptions

  • MythRed Verona marble is a true marble.

    FactAlthough the trade calls it “marble”, this stone is not a rock transformed by heat and pressure but a nodular limestone laid down on the Jurassic seabed. The name stuck because it shines like marble when polished.

  • MythThis red, lumpy-looking stone is a breccia.

    FactThe famous 19th-century stone collector Faustino Corsi labelled one sample “Breccia di Milano”. According to the Oxford study it is a typical rosso Verona, neither a breccia nor from Milan. The nodules are not broken rock fragments but lumps that formed within the limestone itself.

Did you know?

Much of the paving in Verona's historic centre is made of this stone; a sharp-eyed walker can spot ammonite fossils underfoot.

In the old quarries the stone was taken out through tunnels worked from the top downwards, leaving giant pillars in place to hold up the roof. Today open quarries are used for safety.

Marmomacc, one of the world's most important natural stone fairs, is held in Verona every year.

Where is it found?

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  • Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, Verona, Italy · Type localityThe main district where the stone is still quarried, between Sant'Ambrogio and the village of Monte, about 20 km north of Verona. Worked since Roman times.
  • Monte Pastello, Verona, Italy · Major depositThe slopes of this mountain between Valpolicella and the Adige valley are named among the places where the red ammonite limestone is quarried.
  • Grezzana (Lugo and Rosaro), Val Pantena, Verona, Italy · Historic sourceSource of the “marmo rosso di Lugo” and “rosso di Rosaro” samples in the Corsi collection; Lugo had a marble-working trade that mattered to local people.
  • Castelletto di Brenzone, Lake Garda, Verona, Italy · Known localityOn the eastern shore of Lake Garda; the sample from here is a shelly kind crowded with ammonites.
  • Asiago Plateau, Vicenza, Italy · Known localityA very dark kind of the same Jurassic red ammonite limestone is quarried on this plateau as “Rosso Asiago”.

Locations are approximate to protect sites. Red dots mark places in Türkiye. Open in the big map →

Frequently asked questions

What is red Verona marble?

Red Verona marble (Italian “Rosso Verona”) is a nodular ornamental stone quarried near the city of Verona in northern Italy, ranging from pale pink to deep red. Spiral ammonite fossils are often visible in it. Although the trade calls it “marble”, scientifically it is not a marble but a limestone laid down in the open sea during the Jurassic. The Romans built the Verona Arena from it, and in the Middle Ages it adorned buildings from Venice to Parma.

What is red Verona marble used for?

Roman buildings: The outer facade and pillars of the Verona Arena are made of red ammonite limestone from Valpolicella; the pink and white kinds used together give the building a two-coloured look. The Romans also shipped blocks to other cities along the nearby Adige River. Middle Ages and Renaissance: The outside of the Baptistery of Parma (begun in 1196) is faced with pink Verona marble. The Doge's Palace and St Mark's Basilica in Venice and the cathedrals of Bologna, Parma and Cremona are also named among the buildings that use it.

How hard is red Verona marble?

It has a hardness of 3 on the Mohs scale. A fingernail cannot scratch it, but a steel knife can. Its specific gravity is 2.69 g/cm³.

Where is red Verona marble found?

Its best-known localities: Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, Verona, Italy; Monte Pastello, Verona, Italy; Grezzana (Lugo and Rosaro), Val Pantena, Verona, Italy; Castelletto di Brenzone, Lake Garda, Verona, Italy; Asiago Plateau, Vicenza, Italy.

How can you tell if red Verona marble is real?

Pale pink or whitish rounded nodules sit in a darker red matrix, giving the stone a mottled, lumpy look. Thin, wavy, dark seam-like lines (stylolites) wind between the nodules. On cut surfaces, spiral cross-sections of ammonites or bullet-shaped pieces of belemnites can be seen. “Rosso Asiago”, from the Asiago Plateau in Vicenza, is a very dark kind of the same Jurassic red ammonite limestone and can be mistaken for Red Verona.

Is red Verona marble valuable?

On the “street to diamond” value ladder it sits on step 4 of nine: Fine dimension stone and ore. As a building and ornamental stone, its value depends on the vividness and evenness of the colour, the look of the nodules and fossils, whether large, crack-free blocks can be taken from the quarry, how well it polishes and how durable it is outdoors. Deep red kinds with clear ammonites are the most sought after. Its use since Roman times and its place in historic buildings add to its fame.

Sources

  1. Red Verona marble · Wikipedia
  2. Rosso Verona marble (Italy): proposed as a candidate for “Global Heritage Stone Resource” (P. Primavori), EGU General Assembly 2020, EGU2020-2873 · Copernicus Meetings, 2020
  3. Corsi Collection of Decorative Stones, no. 497: Rosso Verona · Oxford University Museum of Natural History
  4. Corsi Collection of Decorative Stones, no. 70: Marmo rosso di Lugo · Oxford University Museum of Natural History
  5. Corsi Collection of Decorative Stones, no. 444: Rosso di Rosaro · Oxford University Museum of Natural History
  6. Corsi Collection of Decorative Stones, no. 445: Broccatello di Torbe · Oxford University Museum of Natural History
  7. Corsi Collection of Decorative Stones, no. 274: Rosso di Castelletto di Brenzone · Oxford University Museum of Natural History
  8. Corsi Collection of Decorative Stones, no. 463: Broccatello di Olorgie · Oxford University Museum of Natural History
  9. Marble Rosso Verona · Stone-Ideas.com
  10. Verona Marble · Veronissima
  11. Architectural stone from quarry to installation (Cave Bonaldi, Rosso Verona) · Stone World
  12. Rosso Verona marble: technical data · Materials Assemble
  13. Verona Arena · Wikipedia
  14. Baptistery of Parma · Wikipedia
  15. Limestone · Geology.com
  16. Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella · Wikipedia
  17. Monte Pastello · Wikipedia (Italian)
  18. Grezzana · Wikipedia
  19. Brenzone sul Garda · Wikipedia
  20. Asiago, Veneto · Wikipedia

External links

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