A range of white and grey calcitic marbles are quarried in and around modern Carrara, near ancient Luna. The highest-quality of these is the statuary marble (statuario) which is very fine-grained with an ivory colour. It has a high tensile strength, can take a high gloss polish and holds very fine detail. Another popular material for statuary is the so-called ordinario marble, also white in colour, though sometimes with a greyish hue. In addition to these white marble and streaked grey, black and white marble called Bardiglio is also quarried at Carrara and was used in the Roman period, for revetment and flooring especially. White marble from Carrara began to be quarried intensively in the mid to late 1st century BC, though it was sporadically extracted prior to this period. In the 1st century AD it was the principal white marble used at Rome though it was gradually replaced in the course of the 2nd century AD with eastern marbles. It was widely exported in the western Mediterranean in the Roman period and is used in enormous quantities in southern France, eastern Spain and areas of western North Africa. Carrara marble became popular again in the Renaissance and it was quarried intensively throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Carrara remains the centre of the worldwide stone industry.
