The Basilica Cistern, is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath
the city of Istanbul, Turkey.
The cistern, located 500 feet southwest of the Hagia Sophia on the historical peninsula
of Sarayburnu, was built in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian
I.
History
The name of this subterranean structure derives from a large public square on the First Hill
of Constantinople, the Stoa Basilica, beneath which it was originally constructed.
Before being converted to a cistern, a great Basilica stood in its place, built between
the 3rd and 4th centuries during the Early Roman Age as a commercial, legal and artistic
centre.
The basilica was reconstructed by Illus after a fire in 476.
Ancient texts indicated that the basilica contained gardens, surrounded by a colonnade
and facing the Hagia Sophia.
According to ancient historians, Emperor Constantine built a structure that was later rebuilt and
enlarged by Emperor Justinian after the Nika riots of 532, which devastated the city.
Historical texts claim that 7,000 slaves were involved in the construction of the cistern.
The enlarged cistern provided a water filtration system for the Great Palace of Constantinople
and other buildings on the First Hill, and continued to provide water to the Topkapi
Palace after the Ottoman conquest in 1453 and into modern times.
Measurements and data This cathedral-size cistern is an underground
chamber approximately 138 metres by 64.6 metres - about 9,800 square metres in area - capable
of holding 80,000 cubic metres of water.
The ceiling is supported by a forest of 336 marble columns, each 9 metres high, arranged
in 12 rows of 28 columns each spaced 4.9 metres apart.
The capitals of the columns are mainly Ionic and Corinthian styles, with the exception
of a few Doric style with no engravings.
One of the columns is engraved with raised pictures of a Hen's Eye, slanted braches,
and tears.
This column resembles the columns of the Triumphal Arch of Theodosius I from the 4th century,
erected in the 'Forum Tauri' Square.
Ancient texts suggest that the tears on the column pay tribute to the hundreds of slaves
who died during the construction of the Basilica Cistern.
The majority of the columns in the cistern appear to have been recycled from the ruins
of older buildings, likely brought to Constantinople from various parts of the empire, together
with those that were used in the construction of Hagia Sophia.
They are carved and engraved out of various types of marble and granite.
Fifty-two stone steps descend into the entrance of the cistern.
The cistern is surrounded by a firebrick wall with a thickness of 4 metres and coated with
a waterproofing mortar.
The Basilica Cistern's water came from the Eğrikapı Water Distribution Center in the
Belgrade Forest, which lie 19 kilometres north of the city.
It traveled through the 971 metres-long Valens Aqueduct, and the 115.45 metres-long Mağlova
Aqueduct, which was built by the Emperor Justinian.
The cistern has the capacity to store 100,000 tons of water, despite being virtually empty
today with only a few feet of water lining the bottom.
The weight of the cistern lies on the columns by means of the cross-shaped vaults and round
arches of its roof.
The Basilica Cistern has undergone several restorations since its foundation.
The first of the repairs were carried out twice during the Ottoman State in the 18th
century during the reign of Ahmed III in 1723 by the architect Muhammad Agha of Kayseri.
The second major repair was completed during the 19th century during the reign of Sultan
Abdulhamid II.
Cracks to masonry and damaged columns were repaired in 1968, with additional restoration
in 1985 by the Istanbul Metropolitan Museum.
During the 1985 restoration, 50,000 tons of mud were removed from the cisterns, and platforms
built throughout to replace the boats once used to tour the cistern.
The cistern was opened to the public in its current condition on 9 September 1987.
In May 1994, the cistern underwent additional cleaning.
Medusa column bases
Located in the northwest corner of the cistern, the bases of two columns reuse blocks carved
with the visage of Medusa.
The origin of the two heads is unknown, though it is thought that the heads were brought
to the cistern after being removed from a building of the late Roman period.
There is no written evidence that suggests they were used as column pedestals previously.
Tradition has it that the blocks are oriented sideways and inverted in order to negate the
power of the Gorgons' gaze, however it is widely thought that one was placed sideways
only to be the proper size to support the column.
The upside down Medusa was placed that way specifically because she would be the same
height right side up.
In media The cistern was used as a location for the
1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love.
In the film, it is referred to as being constructed by the Emperor Constantine, with no reference
to Justinian, and is located under the Soviet consulate.
Its real-life location is a considerable distance from the consulate, which is in Beyoğlu,
the "newer" European section of Istanbul, on the other side of the Golden Horn.
The finale of the 2009 film The International takes place in a fantasy amalgam of the Old
City, depicting the Basilica Cistern as lying beneath the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, which, in
the film, is directly adjacent to the Süleymaniye Mosque.
The cistern is featured in Clive and Dirk Cussler's 2010 Dirk Pitt fiction novel, Crescent
Dawn.
In the 2011 video game, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, the player controlled character,
Ezio Auditore, is given the chance to explore a section of this cistern in a memory sequence
entitled The Yerebatan Cistern.
The cistern with its inverted Medusa pillar was used prominently in the climax of the
new Dan Brown novel Inferno featuring Robert Langdon, where the antagonist planned to make
his attack.
Transportation Tram to Basilica Cistern
T1 Zeytinburnu - Kabatas Closest stop: Sultanahmet - 0.23 km away
Bus to Basilica Cistern 30D Dereboyu - Yenikapi
28T Topkapi - Besiktas 28 Edirnekapi - Besiktas
26B Gayrettepe - Eminonu 26A Fulya district - Eminonu
26 Dikilitas - Eminonu 70 KE Kurtulus - Eminonu Closest stop: Eminonu
- 0.44 km away
Underground to Basilica Cistern M5 Kazlicesme - Sogutlucesme Closest stop:
Sirkeci - 0.87 km away Gallery
See also Binbirdirek Cistern
Theodosius Cistern List of Roman cisterns
References
External links Media related to Basilica Cistern of Constantinople
at Wikimedia Commons Basilica Cistern of Istanbul - Thewotme travelblog
Byzantium 1200 | Basilica Cistern