C.12 THE ELEGANCE OF MARBLE

The main hall at Punta Begoña is a veritable catalogue of the most highly prized ornamental materials of the early 20th century, which were used to give it an ambience of nobility and distinction.

Samples taken from the rubble removed from the site have enabled us to identify the different types of stone used for decoration.

In the centre of the room there were diamond-shaped floor tiles made of white Carrara marble, Bianco Carrara. From there, bands of different coloured tiling extended out to the edge of the room. The first was made of Gris bardiglio grey marble, also from Carrara. This same stone was used for the step at the entrance to the room.

The next band is made of the same brightly coloured, veined Yellow Benou marble that can be seen on the frieze along the top of the wall, where it has suffered considerable damage from weathering, the loss of tiles and graffiti. This stone comes from the south of France.

The last band is made of bright red limestone, and contains numerous white fossils. It comes from Ereño in Bizkaia, and the colour is known as Ereño red or Bilbao Red. This stone has been used for decoration since Roman times. It can be found on many buildings in this area, and has been widely exported. Indeed, it was used in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

For a closer look at the various types of stone, check out these enlargements of petrographic and scanning electron microscope images.