Syrian Natural Stone: A Buyer's Guide to Limestone, Shell Stone, Travertine and Basalt

Syrian Natural Stone: A Buyer's Guide to Limestone, Shell Stone, Travertine and Basalt

Phoenician Stone Group supplies natural stone from Syria to architects, contractors and distributors. The company was established in 2004 and builds on more than forty years of family experience in natural stone; our stone has been shipped to more than 35 countries. This guide sets out what we offer today and how buyers usually choose between the stones.

What “natural stone” means in a specification

In the trade, stone quarried and cut into blocks or slabs to a specified size is called dimension stone. Buyers usually judge it by colour, grain texture and pattern, and surface finish, and by durability and strength for the intended use.¹ Those are the same questions this guide follows: appearance first, then finish, format and the technical information your project needs.

The current selection: nine stones in four families

Limestones. Five selections range from the lightest to the warmest tones:

• Extra White Limestone: our lightest and most uniform limestone, with a clean white tone and minimal natural movement.
• Selected Milky White Limestone: light ivory-white with a soft, balanced character and restrained movement.
• Venato Milky White Limestone: a milky white base with warm beige undertones and more pronounced, mottled movement.
• Ivory Silk Limestone: warm ivory with a finely layered appearance and subtle linear movement.
• Crema Limestone: warm cream with a naturally varied surface, soft beige movement and subtle fossil character.

Fossil limestones (shell stones). Bianco Shell Stone is a fossil-rich limestone with large, expressive fossil forms and a one-of-a-kind visual character. Damascus Shell Stone is a warmer beige fossil limestone with dense shell formations and layered movement. Our fossil limestone guide explains how to read and specify them.

Travertine. Silver Travertine is silver-grey, with layered movement, soft tonal variation and a naturally linear character.

Basalt. Volcanic Black Basalt is a dense volcanic stone with a deep charcoal-to-black tone. Basalt has a long building history in the region: Bosra, the capital of the Hauran in southern Syria, stands on a basalt plateau, and its black rock was long used for construction.²

Finishes

The finish changes how a stone looks, feels and behaves underfoot. The finishes offered depend on the stone:

• Raw: left as cut, the most natural and slightly rough surface (all stones).
• Honed: ground flat to a smooth matte or satin surface without gloss (all stones).
• Polished: ground and buffed to a reflective gloss that deepens the colour, more slippery when wet than a matte surface (limestones, shell stones and basalt).
• Antique: a softly worn, textured surface with an aged look (limestones, shell stones and travertine).
• Filled or unfilled: for travertine, the natural cavities are either filled for a closed surface or left open to show the full texture.
• Flamed: for basalt, the surface is roughened with intense heat, a textured finish often chosen for outdoor paving and steps.
• Colour-treated surface: a treated basalt surface; ask us what the treatment involves for your project.

Where a photograph on our stone pages shows a particular finish, its label says so; the finishes you can order are listed separately on each page.

Formats and typical uses

The limestones, shell stones and travertine are offered as blocks, slabs and cut-to-size pieces; the basalt as slabs and cut-to-size. Typical uses include flooring, wall cladding, façades, steps, landscaping and architectural details; travertine is also used around pools, and basalt for paving and outdoor flooring. Suitability for a specific project depends on the exact use, climate and fixing method, so we discuss it case by case.

From enquiry to sample

The fastest way to a useful answer is a complete enquiry. Tell us:

• the stone or the look you are after, and where it will be used (inside or outside, floor or wall);
• the finish, and the format or dimensions you have in mind;
• the approximate quantity and the delivery destination;
• any technical information your specification requires.

A sample shows the character of a stone, but natural stone varies, so agree on the expected range before production. Our article A Sample Is Not a Shipment explains why. We do not publish laboratory figures on the website; ask our team which technical information is available for your project.

Send an enquiry or browse all nine stones.