Istrian stone

Istrian stone, pietra d'Istria, the characteristic group of building stones in the architecture of Venice, Istria and Dalmatia, is a dense type of impermeable limestone that was quarried in Istria, nowadays Croatia; between Portorož and Pula.

[1][2][3] Limestone is a biogenetic stone composed of calcium carbonate from the tests and shells of marine creatures laid down over eons.

Istrian stone approaches the compressive strength and density of marble, which is metamorphosed limestone.

Venice, isolated in its lagoon, had no building stone at hand.

When Francesco, son of the architect Jacopo Sansovino, wrote Venetia citta nobilissima et singolare (1580) he emphasized the distinctive quality that Istrian stone and the coppery-red Verona brocatello limestone (so-called Veronese marble) lent to the city.