MARBLES FROM LOMBARDY
Divided between the great Alpine chain and the fertile and industrious plain of Northern Italy, Lombardy represents, together with the surrounding regions one of the reference points of the history of industrial culture due to the abundance of water, wood and building stone. A history of many small communities that inhabited the French, Italian, Swiss, Austrian, German and Slovenian Alps and that have become lost over time but whose traditions remain firmly implanted in the character of the people, in their traditions and in the work ethic seen as man’s great achievement.
A land that has always been open all kinds of art and research (think of Leonardo da Vinci), to communication thanks to its geographical position of ethnic union between the peoples of the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, between the Iberians in the west and the Balkans in the east.
The roads over the Alps are also the origin of the main cities. The most symbolic and fascinating is surely the Gottard, surrounded by the great hard stones of the Alps. Known also as the “people’s way” because it lies at the centre of the original culture of mitteleuropa, it is still the symbol of the peace-loving industrious common European household.
The Gottard with its rugged stones can best explain the role of marble and granite in man’s fight against the intemperies of nature, the harsh climate, the acts of other men. The results withstand time and are the only ones that still remain today to tell the story or show the wonderful buildings after the work done by the excellent stonemasons of the Alps or in the marble and granite works of the plain below.