We Hyblaean people have always used it.certainly since before the birth of Christ. Anonymous stonemasons carved two sarcophagi to guard the eternal rest of equally anonymous Ragusans two thousand three hundred years ago. These tombs were excavated from two blocks taken from an unknown rocky outcrop in Contrada Tabuna, immediate southern suburbs of Ragusa.

With its epicenter in Ragusa, all the surrounding towns have utilized this stone quarried from just three hundred hectares between the Irminio River valley and the state road to Mazzarelli, now Marina di Ragusa.

At the end of the 18th century, the French painter Jean Houel visited this part of the island, staying in Ragusa for several weeks. He explored the sites from which the fragrant brown rock is extracted and wrote a few lines about it. We believe that these lines by the transalpine artist—who created some of the most beautiful gouaches of the time, featuring magnificent reproductions of Sicily’s most stunning places—were read by his compatriot Deodat de Dolomieu, who understood and described the qualities of mountains and minerals.

In churches in the 'late Sicilian Baroque' style—those built after the devastating earthquake of January 9 and 11, 1693, which led UNESCO to include eight municipalities in southeastern Sicily on the World Heritage List, known as “the goods of humanity”—pitchstone appears in many forms. This includes functional elements like foundations, floors, and staircases, as well as artistic expressions such as statues, columns, capitals, stoups, and decorative staircases. One notable example is the access staircase and balustrade connecting the church to the convent of the Immaculate Madonna in Ragusa Ibla, A triumph of Baroque design in pitchstone. And then there is an equally large artistic and architectural heritage in the form of houses and villas.

The entire southeastern territory of Sicily has benefited from this stone. In fact, it transforms floors—especially those inlaid with white rock and possibly Calatine ceramics—into true masterpieces, creating incredible geometric patterns that often captivate and mesmerize the visitor’s eye. This stone, which we call “petrapics,” is ancient—very ancient. Its continued use is not only an elegant way to furnish and enrich our homes, but also an intelligent means of passing down ancient traditions and a timeless appreciation of beauty

Saro Distefano