{"title":"Lazio","description":"\u003cp\u003eLazio, the region surrounding Rome in central Italy, is a world-class hunting ground for volcanic minerals, prized by collectors and museums for its exceptionally sharp, often fluorescent crystals formed in gas cavities of potassic lavas. The region's mineralogy is dominated by the Pleistocene volcanic districts of the \u003cstrong\u003eAlban Hills\u003c\/strong\u003e (Colli Albani), the \u003cstrong\u003eSabatini Volcanic Complex\u003c\/strong\u003e, and the \u003cstrong\u003eVico\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eVulsini\u003c\/strong\u003e centers, whose leucite-bearing lavas and pyroclastic ejecta host an extraordinary variety of accessory and cavity minerals rarely matched elsewhere in Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe single most famous locality is \u003cstrong\u003eCapo di Bove\u003c\/strong\u003e, along the Via Appia Antica in Rome, where an ancient melilite-leucitite lava flow has yielded type material for minerals such as \u003cstrong\u003espadaite\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003ecahnite\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong\u003ekirschsteinite\u003c\/strong\u003e, alongside fine crystals of \u003cstrong\u003eleucite\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003egismondine\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003ephillipsite\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003echabazite\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003ecalcite\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003evonsenite\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong\u003eapatite\u003c\/strong\u003e. Other classic sites include the \u003cstrong\u003eVallerano\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eOsa\u003c\/strong\u003e quarries near Rome, historically worked leucitite outcrops famous among Italian collectors for zeolites and pyroxene; the \u003cstrong\u003eAlban Hills\u003c\/strong\u003e localities of \u003cstrong\u003eAlbano Laziale\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eAriccia\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong\u003eRocca di Papa\u003c\/strong\u003e, source of granular ejecta rich in \u003cstrong\u003emelilite\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003esanidine\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003ehaüyne\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eaugite\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong\u003egarnet group\u003c\/strong\u003e species; and the \u003cstrong\u003eSabatini\u003c\/strong\u003e volcanic sites around \u003cstrong\u003eSacrofano\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eManziana\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong\u003eAnguillara Sabazia\u003c\/strong\u003e, which have produced additional type specimens and richly zoned zeolite associations. The Cesano geothermal field, within the Sabatini system in northern Lazio, adds a further hydrothermal mineral suite tied to the same volcanic plumbing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat makes Lazio material so desirable to collectors is the combination of scientific importance and aesthetic quality: many species were first described from these very outcrops, giving specimens genuine type-locality status, while the volcanic cavities regularly produce well-formed, lustrous crystals of \u003cstrong\u003eleucite\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003enepheline\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003esodalite\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eperovskite\u003c\/strong\u003e, and rare calc-silicates seldom found in comparable condition elsewhere. Because these historic quarries near Rome are largely worked out or protected, classic Lazio specimens are increasingly scarce on the market, making authenticated pieces from \u003cstrong\u003eCapo di Bove\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eVallerano\u003c\/strong\u003e, and the \u003cstrong\u003eAlban Hills\u003c\/strong\u003e particularly sought after by systematic collectors, museums, and enthusiasts of Italian volcanic mineralogy.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[],"url":"https:\/\/www.italmineral.com\/collections\/lazio.oembed","provider":"ITALMINERAL","version":"1.0","type":"link"}