Maiano Cave

Carrara marble is world famous, mention the name and immediately one thinks of Michelangelo’s Il David or Pietà; but not everyone realizes that just outside of Florence is a small cave, which might not be as famous as Carrara, but has still given birth to famous stoneworks.

Just below Fiesole, the open cave of Maiano produced stone of great prestige, Vasari called this the “stone of the ditch.” The artisans who worked with this stone referred to it as the “peaceful kind.” The 18th century naturalist Targioni Tozzetti wrote in his Stories of Trips Taken in Different Parts of Tuscany, that this Fiesole stone will continue to be excavated as long as the world lasts; however, the last Maiano quarries were closed in the second half of the 20th century.

This noble stone, softer and more forgiving than marble, was suitable for shaping ornamental pillars and sculptures. Brunelleschi used it for the Church of Santo Spirito and San Lorenzo, and Michelangelo used it in the Laurentian Library.

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