The application Decorative Stones aims to promote geology through rocks, minerals, fossils and structures that can be observed in decorative and building stones. These stones, which often have an attractive appearance, are used to create building cladding and paving, architectural elements such as ashlars, ribs, portals, staircases. Many statues are also carved from natural stones.

Rocks have been used in Slovakia for at least 2 000 years. In historical times, stones from Slovakia, Austria, and Hungary were used, later from the Czech Republic and Soviet block countries. In the last 30 years, stones from all over the world have been imported to Slovakia. Each location – public building, statue, castle, palace or church – will be shown in overall and detailed photographs with relevant descriptive texts. The application includes a dictionary of terms, which is easily accessible through links to words in the text, a map of realizations and quarries and an overview of the most important refferences. The database will be continuously updated.

The application was created in cooperation with the Department of Geology and Paleontology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava.
Professional guarantee: doc. RNDr. Daniel Pivko, PhD.
phone: 02/ 9014 9225; e-mail: daniel.pivko@uniba.sk