Rapakivi granite in the architecture of St Petersburg: a potential Global Heritage Stone from Finland and Russia

Abstract

Rapakivi granites were in use during the Middle Ages in Finland. Their most spectacular use, however, was for structures built in St Petersburg between 1760 and 1917. Remarkable examples are the majestic and slender Alexander Column and the 112 columns of St Isaac's Cathedral. All Rapakivi granite was extracted from the Wiborg Rapakivi granite batholith in several quarries around the municipality of Virolahti in SE Finland (old Russia). Today, the 1640 Ma-old Wiborg batholith is the most important area for natural stone production in Finland and in the Leningrad region, Russian Federation. The main quarried stone varieties of Rapakivi granite (Baltic Brown, Baltic Green, Carmen Red, Karelia Red, Eagle Red and Balmoral Red) are regularly produced in large quantities in Finland for the global stone market due to the stone's unique qualities. Examples of applications in Rapakivi granite from Finland can be found in the USA, China, South Africa, the UK, Italy, Austria, Ireland, Spain and Germany as well as in Scandinavia and Russia. There are also quarries near Vyborg, the Russian Federation: Vozrozhdenie and Ala-Noskua.

Geoheritage Meaning of Artificial Objects: Reporting Two New Examples from Russia

“…These are man-made megaclasts, which provide evidence of this lesser-known category of megaclasts, and their shape is too ideal to be registered as any natural megaclast. This interpretation appears to be novel because the previous workers (e.g., [45,46]) focused on rapakivi granites of Saint Petersburg as stone heritage, which is not the same as geoheritage. These balls are ideal for an explanation of what man-made megaclasts and ideal, textbook-like megaclasts are.…”

“…This category of heritage is well-recognized in the world [40][41][42]. Rapakivi granites, from which the balls are sculptured, are rocks with outstanding aesthetic properties, and, thus, these were often used for historical buildings and monuments in Saint Petersburg to form a significant portion of its stone heritage [43][44][45][46]. Apparently, the widespread use of this highly-specific rock in the city stresses its stone heritage value.…”

Red pyterlite from Virolahti in southeastern Finland: a unique heritage stone with a classic rapakivi texture applied in historic and modern architecture

“…An example is the metro station Vasileostrovskaya (No. 29A Sredniy Prospect Street), where part of the floor and the interior design of a restaurant were made using Carmen Red granite from Virolahti in 1996 (Bulakh et al, 2020).…”

New data on the granite pedestal of the monument to Peter the Great “The Bronze Horseman” in Saint Petersburg

“…Очевидно, что объемные соотношения кварца, полевых шпатов и темноцветных минералов характеризуют породу как биотит-мусковитовый калиево-полевошпатовый гранит. Равномернокристалличность, явно выраженная трахитоидность и полное отсутствие округлых (овоидных) выделений щелочного полевого шпата позволяют исключить сходство этой породы с типичным гранитом рапакиви -выборгитом (Baltic-Brown) и питерлитам (Carmen-Red) в соответствии с современными представлениями о породах формации рапакиви [17]. Бытующее в среде историков и искусствоведов представление о Гром-камне как «финском» граните -рапакиви, по-видимому, объясняется внешним сходством его окраски с рапакиви, широко представленным в архитектуре Санкт-Петербурга XVIII -начала XX вв.…”