Zedekiah's Cave, also known as Solomon's Quarries, is a 5-acre (20,000 m2) underground meleke limestone quarry under the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem that runs the length of five city blocks. It was carved over a period of several thousand years and is a remnant of the largest quarry in Jerusalem.
Zedekiah's Cave
Entrance to Zedekiah's Cave, 1950
Touring the cave, 2011
Entrance to the cave in 1945 when it was used as a bomb-shelter
Meleke, also transliterated melekeh or malaki, is a lithologic type of white, coarsely-crystalline, thickly bedded-limestone found in the Judaean Mountains in Israel. It has been used in the traditional architecture of Jerusalem since ancient times, especially in Herodian architecture. Though it is often popularly referred to as Jerusalem stone, that phrase can refer to a number of different types of stone found and used in or associated with Jerusalem.
Meleke in the Western Wall, Jerusalem.
Limestone block of stone
Stonemasons in Jerusalem (Old postcard).
Meleke in the Gerofit Formation (Turonian) near Makhtesh Ramon, southern Israel.