With just two days in the city we needed to choose carefully which sights we’d be taking in. Our hotel in Istanbul was in the Sultanahmet District close to The Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace so they were all high on our sightseeing list and maybe a boat trip on The Bosphorus if we had the time. But there is another attraction that has intrigued me since I first heard about it – The Basilica Cistern and the part it has played in keeping the city supplied with water since the 6th century.
We descend the 55 steps into the gloom and it’s deliciously cool after the city’s midday heat. Amber lighting illuminates the 336 marble columns, their height elongated by the reflections in the shallow water. Haunting music echoes around the cathedral-like chamber and accompanies the steady drip, drip of water from the arching 30ft ceiling. It’s eerily fascinating.
The Basilica Cistern or, Yerebatan Sarnıcı - “Sunken Cistern” in Turkish, is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city. This massive underground water container, its walls over 4m thick, was built during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in 532 and ensured that first Byzantium, then Constantinople and ultimately Istanbul were kept supplied with water.
The cistern, which is 143 meters long and 65 meters wide, could hold up to 80,000 cubic meters of water – that’s enough to fill 27 Olympic-sized swimming pools! Most of the water was collected from the Belgrad Forest and other areas outside the city and transported partly via the 971 meter-long Valens Aqueduct, most of which still exists today. The Basilica Cistern is just a small part of a complicated system of aqueducts, water towers, canals and fountains which fed the city.
In this subterranean world the 9 metre high columns glow in the darkness; a mixture of Doric, Ionic and Corinthian pillars spaced at four-meter intervals, and arranged in 12 rows of 28 columns each. We make our way through the towering pillars along a raised walkway dodging the droplets falling from above whilst carp swim in the gloomy shallows beneath the boardwalk.
Towards the back of the cistern in the far left-hand corner are two impressive, carved Medusa heads used as column bases; oddly one is positioned upside down, the other placed on its side. Medusa is one of the three Gorgons, female monsters of the underground world, with the power to turn people to stone. Some say the carvings are placed on their side to stop their gaze turning onlookers to stone, others that it is so that they are the right height for the columns. I guess the latter is true since the heads were probably reclaimed from another Roman building and not ‘made to measure’. Having said that I did dare to gaze and am still here to tell the tale!
In 1545, while researching Byzantine antiquities in the city, Frenchman, Peter Gyllius was told that people in the locality obtained water by lowering buckets through holes in their basements and sometimes even caught fish this way. Curious to know more he entered via a stone staircase in the back yard of a house and the cistern was re-discovered. After clearing out 50,000 tons of mud, rubbish and allegedy some bodies the Cistern was restored and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality opened it to the public in 1987.
Open hours are between 9:00am and 11:00pm and entrance fee is 6 Euros or 10TL and the small entrance is located 150m southwest of the Hagia Sophia opposite the yellow building of the Tourist Police in Sultanahmet – look out for the signs. There is usually a queue here but a visit is worth the wait.
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Wow that is very cool! I was in Istanbul in July but only for 20 hours so I had to run around town to see as much as I could (I was on a layover on a business trip). I ate at a restaurant right around this area before heading to the airport and the waiter took me into their basement to show me an underground chamber that looked very similar to some of your photos, I wonder if it was another part of the structure. He said they had come across it several years before during renovations to the restaurant. It had the same brick ceiling as one of your photos…very interesting!
How exciting to get a sneak peek! I thought the cistern was fascinating – apparently there are lots of them all around the city…
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Thank you for telling about that.
I’m very interested in Byzantine history and architecture. I think the main reason is that in the Byzantine empire Middle Ages never occured. Isn’t that remarkable?
You did a wonderful job of capturing the sounds inside the cistern. It really made me feel as if I were back there again.
Thank you – it was eerie wasn’t it!
I think it would have been if there hadn’t been so many visitors down there. At one point we were surrounded by a children’s school group running past us. And then there were all the vendors. Sort of took away some of the magic, but it was still an awesome place, and, like you, I knew in advance it was one place I HAD to see, and glad I did.
Hi! Istanbul is one of my favourite cities. I had a fab long weekend there and loved it. Your photos of Basilica Cistern much better than mine
Thanks Elle – really tricky getting those shots in the dark!
Hi, I wanted to let you know that I awarded you with the Blog of the year 2012 Award. Check out my post for more info: http://dutchgoesitalian.com/2012/11/28/blog-of-the-year-2012/. Ciao, Letizia
Thank you so much!
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I agree, this basilica would be perfect for Halloween!
Nice shots! It looks like a very mysterious and unique place. How long does it take to explore it all?
Hi Agnes – just found your comment in my spam?! Definitely a unique sight to see in Istanbul – we were there for about 45 mins to an hour. There’s a cafe too
if you fancy a coffee…
Fabulous pictures! That was quite an adventure you had. So glad you weren’t turned into stone.
It was a nice, little detour, in a city packed with tourists (like us!).
The lighting is so atmospheric – you must feel like you’re on a real adventure exploring there!
It was unusual and a bit spooky in places…
Perfect for Halloween
Have probably told you before, Istanbul is HIGH on my list of favourite cities!
Oh Madhu, we only had two days – I must go back at the earliest opportunity, it’s an amazing city.
You should. I returned for 5 full days in 2010 and could have stayed 5 more!
I’ve just said to someone else I could go for a week – so much to see; and then there’s the food…..!
Absolutely
Lovely photos. Istanbul is very high on my list of places I must see – so I enjoyed seeing it through your eyes.
There so much more to see – we could have stayed a week and still run out of time for everything. I hope you get to visit soon… thank you for visiting my blog
We have been to Istanbul twice, but never been down to the cisterns, because Mab suffers from clautrophobia, would love to do it sometime though
There’s loads of cafes/bars nearby for Mab. You only need around 40 mins in the cistern – time for her to sample at least one pastry!
Oh I’m visiting Istanbul next January. Looking at your pictures makes me want to pack my bags right away!
Hi and thanks for visiting my blog. I shall keep an eye out on your blog for your posts, I’d like to see what the city looks like
in January. I shall be posting more on Istanbul in the coming weeks and hopefully you’ll find the info useful. Have a fantastic
trip next year
Wow, really impressive!
We had some delicious pomegranate salad dressing too but didn’t try the juice – I wish I had now, sounds scrummy!
It was definitely very different
I loved this place, so atmospheric. A toughie to take photos of though!
Tricky indeed! I didn’t have a tripod with me. Definitely worth a visit.
Cool! That’s so interesting! What an amazing place. I’d love to go to Istanbul. Must get down to Gallipoli one day as well.
So much to see, so little time – Galipoli would be very pertinent for you… IMadhu at The Urge to Wander has a good post on it
Cool! I went and had a look. Thanks for the heads up!
I went there about 20 years ago (god that makes me feel old!) – it’s amazing although I don’t remeber it being so beautifully lit then x
Doesn’t time fly! It’s very atmospheric down there – great for Halloween week! Hope you’re all well x
How beautiful are these photos! I’d forgotten about your Istanbul trip, Suze. Can’t wait to see more.
Thanks Jo
There was so much to see in Istanbul – I need a week just to write about all of it…
Istanbul is somewhere towards the top of my “To Do” list, but your suggestion is an unexpected surprise!
Great photos
I love surprises! There’s so much to see in Istanbul but this was nicely quirky
I love the cistern. On one visit there was an art show on display near the Medusa heads. Everything was on easels since there isn’t really anywhere else to mount a show. I think the whole place is amazing, and the music and lighting make it all the more special. Love all your photos and all the information you packed in!
Thank you Terri – the music and lighting definitely added to the atmosphere and I really enjoyed researching the history element too
The underground cisterns were very mysterious – you’ve captured the mood of the place beautifully! Hope you enjoyed the rest of Istanbul – one of my favourite cities.
It was eerie down there! I loved Istanbul and think I need to go back as we only had two days there sadly.
Yes! Istanbul is amazing… I think my favourite experience there was the fresh pomegranate juices… I must have had about 20 of them in a day!
wow it’s so atmospheric! My husband is Turkish and I’ve still not been to his native Istanbul – I’m so excited about going!
It’s an amazing city with so much to see – I would love to go back and spend a week there. Thank you for taking the time to comment
Thank you for my Turkish fix – needed that today
My pleasure – enjoying your blog and gradually getting up to present day
Lovely atmospheric photo. Looks rather spooky though. An appropriate photo for Halloween week.
It was an unusual place. Quite tricky taking the photographs as I couldn’t use a flash but I’m quite pleased with the way they came out
Just looked at this again Kathryn and all the narrative has gone – around 600 words….
Oh NO! I did think it strange that you hadn’t written anything. I wonder what went wrong?! I hope you can find them! K x
Phew – got it back! Not like me to write so little!
[ Smiles ] It is a combination of beautiful and breathtaking!
Thank you Renard
Hi Renaud and thanks for your comment – I’m afraid there was a lot more to that post but it didn’t appear
However, the narrative and further photographs are now up if you’d like to see the post in full. Thanks for stopping by. Suzanne