Pure cordierite and cordierite-zirconia (5 and 15 mol.%) are prepared by an aqueous sol-gel technique starting from aqueous solutions of magnesium formate, aluminium formate, zirconium formate and tetraethoxysilane. The gels are dried and calcined at different temperatures ranging from 600 to 1300 degrees C. The dried gels and calcined powders are characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, differential thermal analysis, X-ray powder diffraction and infrared spectroscopic analysis.