Most of the sedimentary rocks occurring in Italy are post-Carboniferous. All what lies below is considered basement, mostly metamorphic or igneous. Understand- ing the pre-Carboniferous evolution depends on the reconstruction of the sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous evolution of the basement. In general, the base- ment sedimentary protoliths were Lower to Middle Pale- ozoic siliciclastic rocks, while the igneous protoliths belong to an Ordovician cycle. The prevailing metamor- phism, from very-low grade to granulite facies, is Variscan. It was followed by the formation of large amounts of granitic melts.