on Mount Lacerone at about 4 km from the village of Cottanello, are the famous red marble quarries. It is called "Persichina Stone" or "Cottanello Marble".
This marble was known since the first century BC and was used for flooring for its compactness and wear resistance properties.
Red, with white and gray veins, this stone has become popular between 1640 and 1690.
The use of Cottanello marble in Rome was documented for the first time in 1648 in the records of the Fabricca di San Pietro (Fabric of Saint Peter’s), the Rome construction site ‘par excellence’, the building of which had helped artists such as Bramante, Michelangelo and Bernini.
In 1645, Pope Innocent X Pamphili started the interior decoration of St. Peter's in anticipation of the Jubilee of 1650, entrusting the direction of the work to Gian Lorenzo Bernini, architect of the Fabbrica from 1629.
For the beautification of the aisles and pillars of the church they used massive amounts of marble which involved high costs and considerable supply difficulties.
To overcome this drawback is made extensive use of both reuse materials excavated from neighbouring cities, in particular from the Roman plain, from Colli Albani and Sabina.
Inside St. Peter the Cottanello marble was used by Bernini for the construction of the beautiful 44 columns placed around the side altars of the Basilica.
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