İZMİR SEFERİHİSAR (TEOS) BRECCIA

Quarry Site

İzmir Seferihisar Breccia was extracted near the end of the 2nd century AD from ancient quarries located west of Sığacak Bay, near the ancient city of Teos, around Karagöl and Kayadibi. This brecciated limestone, also known as ‘Nero Africano,’ features a dramatic background interwoven with striking red flakes and shades of gray highlighted by distinctive white streaks. In addition to the black and brecciated textured limestone known as ‘Africano,’ a type of veined grey marble was also extracted from the quarries at the end of the 2nd century AD.

Nomenclature

The Roman consul L. Licinius Lucullus (106-57 BC) introduced this stone to Rome, where it was called ‘Marmor Luculleum,’ in his honor. It is also known as ‘Nero Africano,’ due to the distinctive dark cement binding and, it is speculated, the origins of the quarrymen.

Usage Areas

This stone was employed prominently in monumental buildings in Rome, where it appears in the Pantheon as two large thresholds, the Basilica Aemilia, and the Forum of Augustus. During the 2nd century, this highly esteemed marble was employed in Ostia in the Capitolium, at a time when the quarries are thought to have been exhausted.*

*Atia Antica, Parco Archeologicao di Ostia Antica. Accessed on 27 August 2024, at https://www.ostiaantica.beniculturali.it/en/educational-panels/the-marbles/the-marbles-area-2/