More than meets the eye. Compatible materialities of Jerusalem stone

Natural conditions, including geology, have a great influence on human settlements, ab initio in determining location, through their development over time, and defining the material culture of their inhabitants. The image of Jerusalem is of a stone city, serving its tangible materially and intangible character. In the city of Jerusalem, geology plays a pivotal role that nowadays is still significant. Hence, in this study, several topics were explored, focusing on the geology of the city and its vicinity, together with its early research and mapping. Two well-known geologists Leo Picard and Moshe Avnimelech identified the Turonian, Cenomanian, and the Senonian cities of Jerusalem. Based on these early publications, it is suggested that exploring the connection between the city’s natural conditions, its built environment and urban development, offers a surprising interdisciplinary approach for compatible materialities. The definition of materiality in the fields of geology, architecture, and urbanism, along with material and materiality definition as a basis for a statement of significance of cultural heritage and its conservation. By analyzing the nexus of these compatible materialities and highlighting their contemporary perspective it is possible to develop an interdisciplinary cultural heritage discourse, providing a tool for the Historic Urban Landscape approach that regards the city as a multi-layered and where geology, geomorphology, and other natural and environmental resource have a great role.