Quarried from the mountains of southern Spain for over four millennia, Maceal marble has graced the palaces of caliphs and the courts of emperors and was most famously used extensively at the Alhambra in Granada.

Within the Nasrid Palaces of the Alhambra lies the Sala de las Dos Hermanas - the Hall of the Two Sisters - one of the supreme achievements of Moorish architecture.

The hall takes its name from two vast twin slabs of Macael marble set into its floor: perfectly matched in dimension, colour and weight, they remain the largest marble pieces in the entire Alhambra complex. Quarried and transported across the mountains of Andalucia, their placement was an act of supreme engineering and artistic intent.

Perfect on their own or in a chequer pattern, Macael marble tiles, quarried from the same Andalucian locations are now available from Lapicida in a 300x300x20mm square tile in a range of soft colours, including the iconic veined white.

Our Macael mable grey and white chequer tiles are tumbled - a process that gently rounds the edges and slightly softens the surface, producing the aged, tactile quality of stone that has been worn smooth by time. The result is free of the hard precision of machine-cut edges.

Tumbling brings out the warmth of their colourways making them equally suited to old houses and new, to classical settings and stripped-back contemporary interiors. Our Macheal tiles can be sealed with a matt sealant to preserve their soft looks, or with a satin sealer for a more defined appearance