Abstract Rapakivi granites were in use during the Middle Ages in Finland. Their most spectacular use, however, was for structures built in St Petersburg between 1760 and 1917. Remarkable examples are the majestic and slender Alexander Column and the 112 columns of St Isaac's Cathedral. All Rapakivi granite was extracted from the Wiborg Rapakivi granite batholith in several quarries around the municipality of Virolahti in SE Finland (old Russia). Today, the 1640 Ma-old Wiborg batholith is the most important area for natural stone production in Finland and in the Leningrad region, Russian Federation. The main quarried stone varieties of Rapakivi granite (Baltic Brown, Baltic Green, Carmen Red, Karelia Red, Eagle Red and Balmoral Red) are regularly produced in large quantities in Finland for the global stone market due to the stone's unique qualities. Examples of applications in Rapakivi granite from Finland can be found in the USA, China, South Africa, the UK, Italy, Austria, Ireland, Spain and Germany as well as in Scandinavia and Russia. There are also quarries near Vyborg, the Russian Federation: Vozrozhdenie and Ala-Noskua.

Abstract Soapstone occurs in Finland within Precambrian greenstone belts in the eastern parts of the country. Nunnanlahti and other deposits near Lake Pielinen are the best known and most important of these occurrences. This soft stone is highly workable. Soapstone was one of the most popular ornamental rocks used in architecture of the Jugend (Art Nouveau) style in St Petersburg, Russia, Helsinki, Finland, and in other northern European cities at the end of the nineteenth and into the early twentieth centuries.