So is a travertine marble tile marble or limestone? Well, actually it's neither! Travertine is, well... travertine, which is a sedimentary stone which was mostly formed in ancient hot springs.
All travertine stones have pitted holes, troughs and cavities in the surface. These are due to gas bubbles present when the stone first formed. During the manufacturing processs, some types of travertine tiles will have these cavities filled with colored cement. When you buy travertine tiles, you may have the option of purchasing "filled" or "unfilled" tiles.
This popular paving stone - or "travertine marble flooring" - has actually been popular for ages. In fact, some great historical buildings were built with "travertine marble". The colusseum in Rome is a prime example: it is the largest building in the world constructed mostly of travertine. Until fairly recently, italian travertine tiles from the town of Tivoli was the main source of the stone.
What are your options when you shop for travertine tiles? With the stone being sourced from all over the world there is a great variety of patterns and colors available. Some of the options available in the USA are Mexican Noce, Scabos, Torreon, Camargo, Vanilla Cream, Alexandria, Ankara and Troy.
Arizona Tile offer English Walnut, which is a very dense type of travertine sourced high up in the Andes in Peru. They also carry the Marciano Chiseled Lyon Pattern, which is imported from a bedrock quarry in Turkey. Marciano Chiseled travertine has a brushed finish with a notably chiseled edge.
Another product from Arizona Tile is the Mexican Noce Tumbled Versailles pattern, which is a Mexican travertine quarried near Torreon. A number of tile ranges offer a tumbled travertine tile version which gives a unique "old" appearance to the tiles.
