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After the full-scale closure of its mines,
mining activity in the Verbano Cusio Ossola area turned towards
stone production, an activity that still flourishes today
and provides significant economic benefits to the area while
also offering, among other things the opportunity to rediscover
centuries old traditions and cultures which otherwise would
have disappeared. Quarrying and working of natural stone materials
have their roots in the Medieval period, with the activity
of craftsmen who subsequently passed on their skills and which
subsequently became part of the traditional heritage of the
local populations. Those activities, as they increased, were
directed at exploiting a fundamental resource for construction
and ornamental decorations.
Ornamental stones originating in the Ossola area have been
the object of a large scale activity in foreign markets, due
to their beauty and their technical characteristics, not to
mention their continuing commercial success on the domestic
scene as well. This international success can be seen in refurbishing
projects, urban design and the restoration of architectonic
works, including specific applications for ornamental decorations
of subways, airports, buildings of primary and secondary social
importance, along with monument works, both in Europe and
overseas.
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Besides its silicate material, Ossola
was fortunate enough to possess prestigious marble resources
which not only went towards enhancing the area's architectural
history, as well as that of other, large cities. Ossola
dolomite has always played an important role. Crevola
marble, for example, had already been used in Roman
times, even if documentation reveals use of dolomite
in the church of Domodossola beginning in the XIII century,while
it is certain that it was quarried at the "La Pavia"
site, the site
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itself having been ceded to
the Vestry-Board of the Duomo of Pavia, and was used generously
in the construction of the Duomo, with the quarry being
named after the city of Pavia, There are also many prestigious
work using Crevola marble in the churches of Ossola, including
their balusters, baptistries and altars.
Of interest is the fact that different stone materials
and uses were made in Ossola stone over the centuries.
It is through these various uses that a clear history
of the architecture of Ossola emerges.
There are a variety of architectural works where the polychromatic
effect coming from different materials has been heightened
into an art form, especially where Crevola marble and
green stone have been used: this is the case, again in
Domodossola, with the ruins of the fourteenth century
facade of the San Francesco church.
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The early 1800's were characterized by the
widespread use of Baveno granite, in its various colourings,
for columns mouldings, stairways, and portals. The River Toce,
most of it navigable, made it less difficult to transport
the quarried blocks, allowing the materials of Ossola to reach
cities of quite some distances, in particular those of Piedmont
and Lombardy. In the city of Pavia, for example, the "Deputy
of the Vestry" chose mostly Ossola marble from the quarry
of Crevola for the construction of the Duomo and charterhouse.
This quarry had been ceded to the Vestry-Board in 1500, and
in turn, received the name of "La Pavia" By 1660,
it was thought that deposits in the mine had been exhausted,
and therefore quarrying activity was relocated in the nearby
areas of Candoglia and Ornavasso.
However, it is certainly in Milan that a significant use of
Ossola stone may be seen, the city itself showing its uses
in a variety of different materials and over different periods
of time. During the city's medieval period, construction activity
was developed using bricks and a variety of Ossola serizzo
of a medium-fine grain named "ghiandonato" (serizzo
with rounded-oblong white quartz specks).
These materials, can be seen used in capitals, columns, and
ashlar work, with most of the materials being originally used
in a recycled for throughout various churches: S. Ambrogio,
San Simpliciano, San Eustorgio, the Palazzo della Regione,
and in the destroyed church of S. Maria di Aurona. The Visconti
era saw a continued use of serizzo and ghiandone with Porta
Nuova, Porta Ticinese, and in the construction of Casa Borromeo.
Again,
we see serizzo used in the structure of the Duomo, along
with the now famous pink marble of Candoglia which has
been used in the facing, architectonic decorations and
statues. Serizzo was also used in the construction of
the towers of of Castello Sforzesco, with a significant
number of inserts of Ossola marble that may be Candoglia.
Instead, in the 1600's, it was this pink Candoglia marble
that was the preferred choice in the construction of pillars
and columns in the Villa of Don Ferrante Gonzaga.
With the Spanish period of the 17th century, granite from
Lake Maggiore was introduced, especially with the construction
of columns, so that by middle of the 18th century, and
remembered by Rodolico "Cassina estimated that there
were more than 37.000 examples of this type of work!.
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Baveno granite from quarry sites active since
the beginning of the century was one of the most used materials
in the Lombard capital. It can be seen, together with Montorfano
white granite, in the arcade of Lazzaretto. Other examples
of Baveno granite can be found in the columns and courtyard
of Brera, and similarly of the Senate, and those in the courtyard
of the Seminary in Corso Venezia, and finally those of the
Ospedale Maggiore (now the seat of the Università Statale).
In its various colouring, this granite was also used in religious
building such as S. Maria alla Porta and Sant'Alessando.
And
Baveno granite was again used in two 11.5 metre high columns
in the façade o the Duomo, as well as in the stairs.
Baveno Pink is present on the outside of Palazzo Serbelloni
and in the church of S. Carlo and its 36 columns. In the
periods that followed, it was used as a structural element
of the façades together with a plaster base, as
in the Teatro alla Scala, and in the pavig of Corso Vittorio
Emanuele. Montorfano white was used, instead, in the church
of S. Angelo, and in the cloisters of the S. Vittore convent
which today houses the Science and Technical Museum.
Ossola stone, however, reached greater distances than
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Rome, for example, Baveno pink granite has been notably
used in some of the outter columns of the Basilica Lateranense.
The 84 columns of the Basilica di San Paolo Fuori le Mura
were built using Montorfano white granite and also for
the 136 columns of the arcaded court in front of the Basilica
itself; whereas, Valle Strona marble was often used in
the facing of both public and private buildings. The use
of Verbano Cusio Ossola stone was widespread in Turin,
as can been seen in the most beautiful of its arcaded
streets: Corso Vinzaglio, Via Pietra Micca, via Roma,
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, and Via Sacchi. In the Santuario
della Madonna at Pompeii, the inner columns have been
built using Montorfano white granite. Ossola stone materials
have been used and continued to be so in Genoa, Naples
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Ossola stone still enjoys an important role
in exportation. There are numerous, stupendous examples of
the use of Ossola stone materials in famous work both nationally
and internationally . Today's solution to the transport problems
for blocks and slabs has given them a new lease on life in
the marketplace. Forever spreading out in the world, these
materials are sought out for their aesthetic and technical
characteristics. In the subway of Milan, Brussels and Singapore,
serizzo has been used, as it has been used for the flooring
of the Frankfurt and Milan airports.
White beola was used, instead, for Amsterdam airport, while
New York's renowned monument to Christopher Columbus is in
pink Baveno marble as is Bangkok's Royal Palace. Ossola stone
has also been used in flooring projects in Saudi Arabia, while
2.700 kilograms of Crevola marble were used in the construction
of "The Peace Egg", the renowned sculpture commissioned
by UNICEF.
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