In 1921 100 “scalpellini”, highly skilled sculptors of decorative architectonic and monumental elements, started a cooperative. Together with the “cavatori”, workers specialized in extracting stone with elementary tools like pick-axes and wedges, they were proud artisans, who learned their trade after long years of hard apprenticeship. The name Querciolaie was inspired by the oak woods (querce means oak) in which the quarries and and factory are.
During the twenty years of fascism a lot is built, and the architecture inspired by the monuments of the Roman empire which were often built in travertine, bring a strong demand with it. New techniques and tecnologies to extract, and especially machines to saw blocks into slabs to make coverings, mean the demand can be met. These are good years, in which travertine is exported all over Europe, and prestigious projects are carried out, both abroad and in Italy.
In 1945 another cooperative is founded and called la Rinascente (the resurgent), in a typical optimistic post-war spirit. They too, like Querciolaie, own quarries and a factory in Serre di Rapolano.
After the long hard period of the war, the economic boom in the 50s and 60s, during which Italy changes from being an agricultural country to an industrial one, brings the explosion of modern building: stairs, door and window sills were often made of honed or polished travertine.
The 80s brought Arab clients, and with them a demand for light coloured materials, which pushed Querciolaie to buy a quarry in Guidonia, in the historic extractive district near Rome, where the travertine was more suitable to this clientele.
In 1992 the cooperatives merged, taking the name Querciolaie Rinascente, and joining their respective human and material resources, to form what today is one of the most important and prestigious companies in the business.
