Greece is considered amongst the world’s top marble producers in the global carbonate ornamental stone market. Selected Greek carbonate ornamental stones considered in our study suite are characterized by their distinctive and in some cases unique appearance, having a significant impact on their commercial value. Their wide range of colour varieties and their physico-mechanical properties are closely related to their mineral assemblage, chemical constitution, petrographic properties, structural defects, which in turn depend highly upon their metamorphic/diagenetic grade and in some cases hydrothermal processes that affected them. This study endeavors to feature the petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical properties of the main Greek carbonate ornamental stones from selected localities and their by-product waste material used as aggregates. The documented data aims to serve a better understanding of the dynamic Greek marble industry by relating their mineral and chemical properties with their physico-mechanical and aesthetic characteristics.

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The most important Greek ornamental stone types are marbles, limestones, schists, slates, travertines and sandstones. Since ancient times, quarryinghas been connected to history and civilisation, i.e., the white “Pentelikon” marble being famous for the construction of Parthenon (Acropolis). Greek marble industry is a dynamic sector, among the top world producers of dimension stones, concerning both the volume of production and exports. This paper describes the current status of the major ornamental stone producing areas in Greece and presents typical average values of physical mechanical properties of the extracted stones, determined in LITHOS laboratory.

Karystía Líthos (= Stone of

Quarrying activity concerning “Pétra Thymianón” (= Thymianá Stone) is located in the homonymous region of Chios Island. This structural stone is experientially classified into four commercial types, bearing the quarrymen jargon names: “Hemískliri” (= Medium Hard), “Triandafylli” (= Rose Pink), “Malaki” (= Soft), “Melidjani” (= Purple). All those types consist mainly of carbonates. In a lesser extent, quartz, leaf-shaped minerals, and iron oxides – hydroxides occur. Geologically, Thymianá Stone is characterized as “Carbonaceous - Ferruginous Pelite”. It is a sedimentary thin-bedded rock with alternating layers of calcareous pelite and ultra fine-grained sandstone. Very low grade metamorphism is also present. The quarry production consists of blocks, being cut to slabs for paving and flooring and to shaped stone units for masonry. In this study, the physical mechanical properties of the various Thymianá Stone types have been determined according to the relevant EN Standards. Furthermore, the physical meaning of the quarrymen jargon has been established in connection with the stone types’ quality characteristics and potential applications.