Since time immemorial, natural stone buildings  have been considered a valuable and essential part of civilization. Buildings and monuments have been created with extra ordinary technical and artistic achievements.

Most historical structures and many of our recent buildings have been constructed from natural stone. This chapter of human development gives us a living testimonial transcending through the ages witnessing amazing ingenuity and craftsmanship of our ancestors.

Old natural stone structures help us shed some light on natural stone resources and trends in building , extraction and the stone culture of past eras. This living documentation of various stone usages gives us a look from an architectural point of view, showing historic and recent examples in perfect juxtaposition helping us appreciate the development in all construction periods from prehistoric to recent times.

Besides describing the architecture in structures, the old stones reflects the deep knowledge that artists and masons had about earth’s geology, rock-forming and stone properties. It must have been a perfected skill by humans since early cultures enabling them to identify the wide usage spectrum of every stone they found.

Rock groups from igneous and metamorphic to sedimentary rocks, allowed stone workers to creatively mix and match between them in order to create convenient and functional spaces for the wealthy patrons that employed them. Texture
differences, colors, shades, tints, hardness, smoothness and water absorption of stones were factors all taken into consideration, helping the user to visually distinguish between various types of stones and their function.