The history of porphyry stone

The discovery and use of Porphyry Stone dates back to thousands of years ago. Important relics and monuments in Porphyry have been discovered at Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian and Roman sites, the cradle of our civilization, more then 3000 Years ago.< /p>

Porphyry comes from the Latin word "Porphyra", which means purple red, and in hystory, both this color and the porphyry stone, whose original quarries produced this material only in red, have always been a symbol of prominence and royal status...

Porphyry is a natural stone, widely used and known since ancient times for its peculiar characteristics of high resistance to impact, slip and low maintenance. Main feature is the great versatility of its natural quarry face. Low cost and environmental sensitive quarrying has played an essential role offering a broad range of applications.

Porphyry has been quarried in every continent for domestic and industrial use through the centuries. Technically Porphyry is a particular category of effusive volcanic rock, it presents a natural subdivision into vertical parallel slabs (Thickness may vary from 10mm to half a meter) and its made of a fine-grained microcrystalline vitreous groundmass(65%) , small 2-4 mm manly quartz crystals (30-35%) and Feldspar.

The formation of natural porphyry deposits has a two phase process. Hot magma mixes with overlying rock material to form the larger crystals, then when the magma spits out of the volcanic origin, it mixes with the tiny crystal groundmass and cools very quickly to form the igneous rock structure.

The high compression breaking point with demonstrate anti slip and resistance to chemical agents proprieties make of porphyry a very versatile and resourceful material which aside from its technical advantages offers an extensive range of chromatic options supported by limitless pattern solutions.

An Impressive History of Proven Durability Resistance to wear Porphyry stone needs almost no on-going maintenance. This fact together with its long life span makes it a cost-effective long term paving choice.