Limestone is a stone that can remain standing for a long time such as 2000-2500 year, which is also known as “Istanbul stone”, and which was started to be used in Roman and Byzantine periods. Its most important feature is easy processing and being suitable for any process the moment it is extracted from the ground, and it gains hardness, resistance and strength by absorbing carbondioxide in the air, after getting in contact with the air.
Therefore, it is the basic stone that is used inside and outside of all buildings that constitute Istanbul's aesthetic since the construction of Hagia Sophia by Byzantine and Yukarikapi Walls, and Suleymaniye Complex in Ottoman period.
Limestone is also a stone with climatic features. It absorbes suffocating hot temperature in summer months and freezing cold during winter months to help you breathe. Also it was discovered thanks to a study in 1986 at Moscow University that it does not let nuclear waves pass. In the analyses of limestone performed at Istanbul Technical Unviersity (ITU), it was found that it could also be used as raw material in production of white cement, lime, plaster, powder detergent and talc.