Tzidikiyahu’s Cave

October 10th 2010

Tzidikiyahu’s Cave, a limestone quarry also known as Solomon’s Quarries and Tzidikiyahu’s Grotto, is located underneath the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. The cave runs the length of five city blocks and was created over several thousand years. It is considered the largest quarry in Jerusalem, as it once went from Jeremiah’s Grotto and the Garden Tomb to the walls surrounding the Old City. Visitors who explore the cave will notice ancient patterns and formations made by the ancient stonecutters and turned into makeshift galleries. The legend of the cave has it that this cave was the hiding place of the Judean King Tzidikiyahu who was fleeing from the Babylonians who came to besiege Jerusalem.