Macrocrystals of vesuvianite were collected from the contact zone of Ordovician limestonewith Mesozoic diorite, which coexist with Al-diopside, grossularite, minticellite, clintomite and blue calcite in the Mg-Al skarn. In general, the crystals have dimensions of 2~8 cm, with the biggest one up to 30 cm in length and 15 kg in weight. The color of vesuvianite is brown or green, occasionally with brown center and green shell. The crystals are dipyramidal commonly without or with very poorly_developed prismatic faces, and among total 11 forms the common ones are {101}, {001} and {112}. The physical properties are densityD=3.33~3.39 g/cm3, index of refractionN =1.715~1.731, and susceptibilityX=3.30×10-6~8.53×10-6cm3/g. There exists positive correlation between these physical parameters andΣFeO. On the basis of 76 data of vesuvianite composition mainly from the authors as well as from the literature, a new classification for vesuvianite is proposed in this paper. In the ternary system of Al2O3(A)-MgO(M)-FeO+Fe2O3(F), vesuvianite might be classified into seven types: Normal—(Ⅰ), Mg-Fe—(Ⅱ), Mg-Al—(Ⅲ), Fe-Al—(Ⅳ), Fe_rich—(Ⅴ),Al_rich—(Ⅵ), and Mg_rich vesuvianite—(Ⅶ). The DTA curves show that the constitutional water (OH) of vesuvianite was lost at the temperature of 1 040~1 050℃. The M ssbauer data prove that Fe3+ions occupy the 8 coordinated C site on 4_fold axis in the structure. The dipyramidal vesuvianite mentioned here is the product of hydrothermal replacement. In this paper, the source material of vesuvianite is also discussed through the comparison and analysis of REE character of vesuvianite, diorite and limestone.