Cordierite ceramics can be described as materials having high temperature stability due to low coefficient of thermal expansion, combined with good mechanical strength and chemical stability. Such materials are widely used as substrate material for catalytic processes and supports for high temperature applications. In this work porous cordierite ceramic samples have been prepared by using two kinds of clays in starting compositions that differ by their content of illite and carbonate minerals. The changes of porosity, bulk density, modulus of elasticity, coefficient of thermal expansion and compressive strength have been investigated under gradual changes in maximum sintering temperature from 1200°C to 1350°C. The obtained porous ceramics samples can be characterized by macroscopic pore structure with apparent porosity approximately 60-70 vol%. Crystalline phase is composed from cordierite and magnesium spinel as trailing phase. Compressive strength test results show that the overall trend is related to mineral composition of used illite clay and to the sintering temperature. When higher carbonate mineral clay is used, the compressive strength of material is generally higher (30-35 MPa). A similar trend has also been found for modulus of elasticity and CTE measurements as well.