ABSTRACT
This north-eastern Region of Italy is divided between Friuli - Carnia and Venezia Giulia - Karst; Istria is the peninsula mainly assigned to Slovenia and Croatia after World War II. The first area is mountainous (Alps) and includes the elder stones of Italian territory (Devonian). The second area is a flat plateau with sedimentary rocks (limestone).
Carnia building stones are limestones (Grigio Carnico - Devonian, Verzegnis - Jurassic) and marbles (Fior di Pesco Carnico - Devonian). Friuli building stones are clastic limestone breccia (Pietra Piasentina, lower Eocene). Karst building stones are skeletal limestone (Pietra di Aurisina, Gabria Tomadio and Repen - Cretaceous). Istria building stones are compact limestones (Pietra d’Istria - Cretaceous). The use in Milan of stones from Carnia spread in the architecture of the 1930s; the use of Karst limestones started in the Roman times in several cities of Northern Italy (Trieste, Aquileia, Altino and Milan); the use of Istria stones was mainly spread in Venice (Palazzo Ducale, Ponte di Rialto, etc.).
