Virolahti Pyterlite

Finland

Alexandr_I_Column

Year designation

2024

Lithology

The technical petrographic name of the rock is syenogranite. According to the texture and mineral composition, the name is rapakivi granite, pyterlite.

Aesthetics

The colour of fresh surface is red. The large K-feldspar megacrysts (ovoids) are surrounded by mineral grains of quartz and plagioclase. The texture is homogeneous and unoriented.

Geological settings

Mesoproterozoic, Precambrian and belongs to Wiborg rapakivi granite batholith. The age is 1634.5 ± 3.0 million years.

Location

Virolahti municipality, Southeastern Finland

Alexandr_I_Column

Finnish red rapakivi granite used in historic and modern architecture

Virolahti pyterlite has been used in several significant objects in historical St. Petersburg, as embankments buildings and monuments. Examples of the objects: The Alexander Column consists of the tallest monolith in the world of Virolahti pyterlite extracted from the Hevonniemi quarry. In the St. Isaac‘s Cathedral, the pyterlite has been applied as 112 monolithic columns in the building. Other examples: The walls of the Spit (Strelka) at the eastern end of Vasilyevsky Island, the Stock Exchange House, Academy of Arts, the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Marble Palace building, Kazan Cathedral and the Narva Triumphal Arch. In modern time, Virolahti pyterlite (Carmen Red) has been applied in Europe and the USA, as well as in countries of the Far East, mostly in the façade of buildings.
The importance of the Virolahti pyterlite quarries to the economy of the region was very large. The quarries annually brought in tens of thousands of roubles to the Virolahti region. The stone production defined prosperity, because it employed personnel in extractive operations and complementary services such as transportation, accommodation, catering, maintenance, health and education services. The population of the Virolahti area doubled and reached 10 000 inhabitants in 1887.