Travertine is a natural stone that is common to
parts of southern Europe, notably Italy, Greece,
and Turkey. Formed by underground rivers,
springs and other types of subterranean
moisture, travertine is a smooth and porous
stone characterized by it rich creamy hue. Great
civilizations of the ancient world relied upon
travertine as a staple building material for use
in the creation of their most notable and ornate
architectural accomplishments, including the
famous Roman Coliseum.
This is a testament not
only to the illustrious history of travertine,
but also to its longevity, timelessness and
durability. Today,
travertine embodies a
classical beauty,
and remains to be a common building material in
Italy. Premium travertine tile flooring is
becoming more and more popular for both homes
and commercial buildings for these reasons. This
premium tile is a classy choice, rich in
appearance and practicality. Travertine is a
tasteful choice for your tile floor project.
Travertine tile
flooring can add an extremely elegant touch to
any space, and the premium travertine tile can
be the defining touch in color and texture for
many of applications.
The
white stone that you see all over Rome, from the
fountains to the old noble palazzos and from St.
Peter's church to the Colosseum, is almost
always travertine rather than marble. Although
travertine looks porous, with its gaps, bubbles,
grain, and inclusions, the stone actually is
much less permeable than marbles, limestones,
and sandstones.
It
is not as strong and impermeable as granites or
basalts, but it is much cheaper because it is
more easily quarried and worked and much more
available. It has been the structural stone of
choice in Rome for 2000 years because it is
stronger than marble and because one of the
largest deposits of good travertine in the world
is just twenty miles down the road at the base
of the Tiburtine mountains.
Travertine is a product of the earth's water and
carbon cycles. As carbon dioxide-rich rainwater
percolates through soil and stone, it slowly
dissolves tremendous quantities of limestone
along underground fissures. This water, now
saturated with dissolved limestone, reemerges at
the surface at warm or hot springs and releases
carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere -- much
like carbonated mineral water. Once the carbon
dioxide is released, the limestone can no longer
remain in solution.
It
re-crystallizes, typically as the water cascades
over organic films made of bacteria, algae, and
mosses. A dense, banded carbonate stone is built
up over time as new material covers older
layers. This process has continued at the Bagni
di Tivoli springs for at least 80,000 years.
(This is the same process that builds up the
terraces around the springs at Yellowstone
National Park in the United States. The "yellow
stone" there is fresh sulfurous travertine of
almost the exact same chemical composition as
Bagni di Tivoli stone.)
Calcite and gypsum, the minerals that make up
about 99 percent of travertine stone, are
colorless. The beautiful honey color of Tivoli
travertine is from the other 1 percent of the
stone: traces of yellow sulfur, brown iron
compounds, and organic pigments. The intricate
"Swiss cheese" texture of travertine is partly
the result of gas bubbles, which are often
trapped between layers of stone, creating
spherical voids.
Minerals crystallizing on the ever-present
bacteria in travertine deposits -- like granular
snow blanketing a miniature landscape --
preserve organic growth forms, called "shrubs,"
and produce much of the rugged relief evident if
the stone is split for use along its "grain". In
some cases, travertine layers are similar to
tree rings, with lighter and darker laminations
representing seasons of growth.
Travertine is found in greatest abundance where
hot and cold springs have been active for tens
of thousands of years. The most famous
travertine location, is Bagni di Tivoli, 20
kilometers east of Rome, where travertine
deposits over 90 meters thick have been quarried
for over two thousand years. The name of the
stone is, in fact, derived from the ancient
Roman name of Tivoli, which was Tibur. "Tibur
stone" in Latin was "lapis Tiburtinus", which
with only a little corruption became
"Travertine".
Because travertine is plentiful, weighs less
than marble or granite, and is relatively easy
to quarry, it was the stone most commonly used
by the ancient Romans. Famous structures
constructed with Tivoli travertine include the
Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the façade and
colonnade of Saint Peter's Basilica, and many
Roman aqueducts. In the last century, Lincoln
Center in New York and the ABC Entertainment
Center in Los Angeles were faced with travertine
from the same Tivoli quarries.
Travertine is split with the grain of the stone,
making visible many more fossils than are seen
in the more common banded travertine, which is
cross-sectioned and polished. At least two
species of fossilized leaves are fairly common
in stone from Bagni di Tivoli -- evidence of a
lakeside environment at the time of the stone's
formation. Fossilized animal material is less
common, but an occasional feather or bone is
discovered. The rapid deposition of the
travertine layers acts as a natural preservative
for these traces of prehistoric life.
In
order to remove the travertine from the vertical
quarry face, workers drill holes into the stone,
outlining a block 6 meters high, 12 meters wide,
and 2 meters deep. A diamond-studded cable is
then threaded through the holes, lubricated with
water to prevent heat buildup, and pulled
against the stone with a set of pulleys. A large
cut may take a day and a half, but eventually
diamond wins out over the softer travertine.
When
the cuts are completed, the slab is pushed away
from the quarry wall and falls onto mounds of
earth, which help cushion the fall. The slab is
then broken up into more manageable cubes, which
are taken to factories for honing and cutting or
splitting. An automated guillotine has been
invented to split the stone along its natural
bedding plane, or diamond saws can be used to
cut standard or specially ordered cross-cut
stones and slabs.
Travertine floor surfaces are anticipated to
last at least 50 years before replacement or
refinishing is needed in high-traffic areas.
High-quality travertine is very durable, since
it is formed at the earth's surface in relative
equilibrium with the environment. Most other
building stones are formed under different
conditions, deep underground and may be less
stable in surface temperature and pressure
conditions.
In
modern installations, travertine blocks may be
treated with silicon-based water repellents that
are expected to ease cleaning. Paving stone and
lower parts of walls in public areas may also be
treated with oil and paint resistant coatings to
reduce the effects of soiling and graffiti. It's
important, however, not to completely seal
surfaces since that could cause moisture to
accumulate inside the stone or to migrate to
inner walls where it could damage plaster or
stucco surfaces or frescoes.
Man-made travertine can also be acquired.
Recent Restoration of Travertine
