Thursday, June 11, 2009

History Of Natural Stone Applications

Whenever you have come across a historical site, you praised the skills of the architect who have created a masterpiece. But not many of you have praised the quality of stone that has been used to make such an excellent piece of architecture. It is the durability of the stone, which has made it possible for you to see the beautiful works even after thousands of years.

Men have used natural stones for ages to build their castles and houses. Different types of natural stones were also used to make beautiful pieces of sculptures. Many pieces of marble sculptures can be found on the museums. The Great Pyramid Of Cheops is an excellent piece of architecture made with huge blocks of limestone. It was made around 2560 BC. Ancient people were also concerned about the esthetic appeal of the building and have used smooth casing stones in the pyramid. In fact these stones are characterized by durability and it has made pyramids a much visited tourist spot even after ages.

Ancient Egyptian civilization was the first civilization that has used natural stones extensively for building purposes. They had excellent skills in architecture and have created excellent structure using natural stones. Interior burial chamber in The Great Pyramid Of Cheops were made up of granite blocks. They were carved so minutely that no one would be able to slide a paper between them.

The trend of using natural stones to increase the esthetic appeal of their buildings was seen in the Greeks too. Greeks had taken natural stone’s usage to some new heights. Temple Of Artemis is one of the architectural examples made by the Greek empires. It had 5 stories and 127 marble columns. This made it one of the grand structures on marble. Few columns of the temple can be found till the present days as the temple had been destroyed with the spread of civilization.

Under the Greek empires, several marvelous architectural pieces were made by using natural stones. Greek people were perfect with their techniques of shaping and quarrying of natural stones. They had constructed some of the monumental structures using natural stones. Temple Of Zeus, The Theseum and Parthenon are some of them. It was under the rule of the Greek empire that marble was brought into home.

The trend of using natural stones continued in the Roman Empire. They have extensively used granite and marble. Romans were excellent road builders and preferred granite for this purpose. Pantheon in Rome is one of the pieces of Roman architecture using natural stone. Romans preferred granite for its strength and durability. They preferred marble for its beauty. The Romans have introduced building techniques using marble and bricks, which is followed even today.

Renaissance had left a great mark on the marble sculptures and architectures. It was in this period that better fabrication and quarrying techniques have been developed. From this period, natural stones were used in monuments, palaces and churches. The usage of natural stones has developed with time and is practiced till today.

No comments:

Post a Comment