Trade

The task of the stonemason goes back to time immemorial. Even before the construction of the first pyramids and temples, human beings had made great advances in the art of cutting stone.

It was not until the Middle Ages, however, that the trade really took shape. At that time, stonemasons began to group together in guilds to ensure their well-being and to pass on their learning more effectively. In fact, the oldest documented guild was precisely that of stonemasons and workers in 1211 in Barcelona.

Almost a millennium later, the trade is still fully alive. Although it is true that in recent years mechanization and the appearance of prefabricated materials have reduced the number of artisan stonemasons, the trade is still necessary both for artistic works and more functional constructions.

Craftsmanship is still alive and thanks to the help of current machinery and improved production techniques, a level of precision unimaginable only a century ago is now being achieved.

Fortunately, in Catalonia there is a strong tradition of stonemasons. We have good materials such as the Montjuïc stone, Maresme granite, Castellfollit basalt, Ulldecona stone, Lleida stone… In addition, there are still about a hundred stonemasons with whom we have a very good relationship and we encourage them to persevere in this beautiful profession.

THE STONE PROCESS: FROM THE QUARRY TO THE WORKSHOP

If we want to trace the development of any work of stone, we are obligated to make special mention of the quarries, where the breakers are responsible for extracting the raw material in the form of stone blocks. Today this work is done with very modern machines but in other times this was a totally manual task.

The stone blocks coming from the quarries are transported to the destination point, where the carving and finishing is done. This is where we, the quarrymen, come in. Our function is to give shape to the stone blocks and turn them into pieces worthy of being admired.