Peperino, the volcanic stone of the Cimini Mountains, is an extremely durable tufa rock that is simultaneously amenable to simple and versatile processing. It has captivated artists for centuries and has been used, both in the past and today, in the construction of palaces, monuments, cladding, and staircases.
Its main peculiarity is its great longevity and resistance to atmospheric agents as well as thermal shock, maintaining its powerful beauty intact and becoming part of the life and culture of the places where it is still extracted and its presence is admired.
This volcanic stone has also conquered foreign markets, reaching the extreme borders of Asia, the Americas, and Canada, because only in Italy can such a precious stone be found to embellish constructions and make them long-lasting.
It is a natural stone of volcanic origin extracted only in certain areas of Central Italy that were characterized by the presence of now-extinct volcanoes over the millennia, such as Monte Cimino in the province of Viterbo and the “Latium Supervolcano”.
The latter extended for a diameter of about 60 km, from Marino to Genzano di Roma, of which Lake Albano remains today. As is evident from the mentioned locations, Peperino is a characteristic stone of the areas North of Rome and Tuscia, and to the South, in the Castelli Romani (Marino, Albano Laziale, Ariccia, etc.).
Peperino volcanic stone, precisely because of its different locations, has taken the name of the places where it is extracted, alongside its typical color.
IWe therefore encounter the Grey Peperino of Viterbo, Marino, and Albano Laziale with small dark specks, from which its curious name derives (from the Latin “lapis peperinus”, meaning pepper), as the small black dots resemble classic black peppercorns. In the Viterbo area (specifically in Soriano nel Cimino) there is instead an extremely rare quality of Pink Peperino, and in the local quarries, there is also the Light Grey Peperino color variant, always characterized by the black speckling.