Marble is one of the most important building materials of antiquity. Especially during the Roman Empire, the use of marble increased. In the Roman period, many marble quarries were opened due to the need for quality marble in important monumental buildings. One of these quarries is Docimium (Iscehisar-Afyonkarahisar) marble quarry. Fine-grained white (Afyon cream) and purplish-red colored (Afyon violet) marbles were extracted from this quarry. These marbles were sent from the port of Ephesus to many Roman cities and were used in many monumental and important buildings during the Roman period. In this study, Afyon violet (Pavonazzetto) marble, which has been of international importance since ancient times, was investigated. In the first stage, the importance of Afyon violet marble in the Roman period was explained and in the second stage the characterization study was made. For this purpose, chemical, mineralogical-petrographic (polarized microscope, XRD, SEM), physical and mechanical tests / analyzes were performed. In the third stage, the durability of Afyon violet (Pavonazzetto) marble was evaluated with the help of salt crystallization and freeze-thaw experiments. According to the experimental data, after the salt crystallization and freeze-thaw experiments, the ultrasonic wave velocity decreased by 23,83% and 13,3%, uniaxial compressive strength values decreased by 15,97% and 20,11%, respectively in the marble samples. It has been determined that the deterioration in the brecciated structure of the marble is caused by mica minerals such as phlogopite, muscovite and clay (illite) minerals.
