Calacatta Marble
The Name for those Beautiful Marble Countertops Explained
It’s easy for homeowners to get confused about the naming of some types of marble that are commonly used in kitchen countertops or marble vanities. And part of the reason homeowners get confused is that many kitchen designers, decorators, and even granite fabricators are confused, using the wrong terms or even multiple names interchangeably.
And to make things even more confusing, Calacatta Marble also comes from the region of Italy known as Carrara – the same place that Carrara Marble comes from!
So since it seems to have so many names and spellings, which is correct?
The Answer
Short Answer: it’s Calacatta.
Longer Answer: it’s most properly called Calacatta Marble, with two “t’s”.
Strictly speaking names like “Calacata” are just common misspellings for Calacatta, but are so pervasive that they persist within the building products industry. And sometimes they’re perpetuated even by those who know better just for the sake of being understood — and we’re guilty of that ourselves sometimes.
The name “Calcutta” marble stems from both misspelling and confusion with famous marble structures in India like the Taj Mahal or the Marble Palace at Kolkata — and it doesn’t help that Kolkata sounds a lot like Calacatta! And while there is plenty of stone, marble, and granite quarried in India, Calacatta Marble by definition comes exclusively from Italy. “Calacutta” is just a misspelling of “Calcutta” but neither is correct when referring to Calacatta Marble.
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