Noir Antique
Noir Antique expresses simplicity and elegance. Extracted from the same quarry as the GRAND ANTIQUE marble, NOIR ANTIQUE retains its characteristic features of color contrast. Thin and delicate white veins branch out into a deeply black background, creating a natural masterpiece of pure refinement and elegance.
A sublime contrast between the black background and the fine white veinings create a unique work of art.
Quarry
Le trou de l'oubli
Formation
:
65 mln years ago
Discovery
:
100 a.c
Coordinates
:
lat 45.3879, lon 8.9144
The quarry was extensively worked in Roman times around 100 BC and the year in which it was abandoned by the Romans is not known. It is certain that in 1600 the quarry was closed as the presence of GRAND ANTIQUE in the sumptuous Palace of Versailles cannot be found and the reason is known: the teams of researchers commissioned by Louis IV to discover the GRAND ANTIQUE quarry failed to intent and therefore the sovereign did not have the availability of blocks from which he could obtain the slabs necessary for the decoration of the palace. The last signs of working in the quarry date back to the first half of the 1900s, the site was then closed and definitively abandoned. Rainwater and runoff from the mountain above covered it the bottom of the quarry and the vegetation grew florid, swallowing up every evident sign of excavation. The pervasive silence and pristine nature of this site 'forgotten by the world' following its closure meant that the quarry was given a fascinating name 'Le trou de l'Oubli', i.e. the hole of oblivion.