King Solomon's Quarries

Solomon's Quarries is a 5 acre underground meleke

 limestone quarry that runs the length of five city blocks 

under the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.

It was carved over a period of several thousand years. 

The quarry entrance is east of the Damascus Gate.

 It was concealed during the Ottoman Empire

 by Suleiman in 1540  for security reasons

 and was not rediscovered until 1854

 when James Barclay found it and snuck in one night.

 It became known as Zedekiah's Cave because 2 Kings 25

 and Jeremiah 52 tell how Zedekiah

 fled the city in 586 even though the Babylonian army

 encircled the city for 24 months.

There is reported to be a tunnel

 from the royal palace of David

 connecting under Temple Mount on Mount Moriah.

Zedekiah's Cave was a small natural cave

 until the Second Temple Period 

when it was enlarged into a

 huge subterranean stone quarry

 extending under the houses of the Old City.

 This quarry supplied the stone

 for many magnificent buildings in Jerusalem.

 According to common belief,

 it was used to construct the First Temple.

 Hence the nickname, "King Solomon's Quarries."

You can see the lines of the rock blocks 

removed from the underground quarry.

Yossi offers a flute concert just for us.

On both sides of the path are huge

 supporting columns dug out of the quarried rock.

 These columns were left by the stone cutters

 to support the rock ceiling, 

which measures 300 by 600 feet

 and weighs approximately 1/2 million tons.

Such beautiful coloring in the rock walls.
Many many slaves worked in these mines
 to bring out the limestone.
No matter what legend or story is accurate- 
it is easy to see that this quarry was a significant 
piece of the building of ancient Jerusalem.