Marble is a mineral that has been used by man for many millennia as a building material. However, marble not only constructs buildings – it is in the honor of sculptors who create marble statues, and decorators who widely use it for exterior or interior decoration.
The ancient Greeks, who highly valued marble, called it simply “a brilliant stone.”
In India, marble figurines are popular. Hindus believe that this mineral is endowed with magical power, and that it serves as a kind of conductor between our world and the gods.
Since ancient times sorcerers have been providing marble with medicinal properties – in particular, it was believed that it helps fight various stomach diseases. Science does not confirm this statement, which, however, does not prevent numerous lithotherapists from claiming the useful properties of marble.
Marble is very durable. Any traces of exploitation of the treated marble begin to appear usually not earlier than one and a half to two hundred years after its processing.
It is marble that is usually used for the manufacture of expensive stone fireplaces, since it is characterized by extreme temperature stability.
Many ancient mosaics, created from pieces of marble, have survived to this day in surprisingly good shape. For example, mosaics in the ruins of Roman palaces in Cyprus.
In the world, there are several hundred types of marble, differing from each other in granularity, color and other characteristics. The most expensive of these is Carrara marble.
Marble – a favorite working material of the famous sculptor Michelangelo, who created his immortal masterpieces from it.
The world’s largest deposits of marble are in the Urals, in Russia.
In the vastness of Russia there is only one single building, entirely built of untreated marble – the building of the railway station in the town of Slyudyanka, which is in the Irkutsk region.
The Czech craftsman Jan Roerich became famous for making a violin out of marble.
