Basilica Cistern

"Basilica Cistern"

Basilica Cistern or Cisterna Basilica is an ancient Roman water reservoir situated in Istanbul, Türkiye. It was built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian the first in the sixth century. This is also called Yerebatan Sarayı in Turkish which means Subterranean Castle for its underground location. The reservoir is located merely hundred and fifty meters from the Hagia Sophia.

Basilica Cistern History

A Cistern is a subterranean system to hold water. Apart from the Basilica cistern, other examples of cisterns are the Portuguese Cistern in Morocco, Silves Cistern in Portugal, and Piscina Mirabilis in Italy. But the most notable among them is the Basilica Cistern in Istanbul. The Basilica Cistern is a one hundred and forty meters long and sixty-five meters wide chamber situated underground. The seeling of the chamber is held up by three hundred and thirty-six pillars, each thirty meters high. The pillars were placed in twelve rows and twenty-eight columns and had sixteen feet of distance between two pillars. The arch shape helps the pillars hold the weight of the Basilica Cistern. This chamber could hold almost eighty thousand cubic meters of water.

Basilica Cistern Medusa

Columns of the Basilica Cistern were Corinthian and Ionic styled. A few Doric capitals with no engravings are also present. There stands one column resembling the fourth-century BC, Triumphal Arch of Theodosius The first. This column is engraved with raised pictures of a hen's eye, tears, and slanted branches. The tears have been thought to have been a tribute to the hundreds of workers who died while making this Basilica cistern. There are two columns in the Basilica Cistern, the bases of which are made of carved faces of the Medusa. Those are situated in the northwest corner of the cistern. The Medusa faces are reused blocks of column bases. The medical faces were placed upside down. The archeologists think this was done to invert the effect of the Medusa. These Medusa faces are thought to have been removed from s building in the late Roman period. Since these stones created the base of the columns which were going to start underwater, it's thought that the Medusa faces were not used as ornaments, but as any other normal stolen.

"Basilica Cistern Inside"

The Basilica Cistern has a historic past. There was a large public square called the Stoa Basilica built during the third century on top of the largest hill of Istanbul near the Hagia Sophia. That's why this cistern is called Basilica Cistern.

This Basilica was reconstructed after a fire by Illus in the year 476. This basilica faced the Hagia Sophia and was surrounded by a colonnade. It had gardens according to ancient texts. As claimed by historians, a total of seven thousand slaves were used for constructing the Basilica Cistern. The main purpose of the Basilica Cistern was to provide water for the Great Palace Constantinople through a filtration system. Not only it provided precious water for the Byzantine castle, but Basilica Cistern continued to supply water to the Topkapı Imperial Palace even after the fall of the Byzantine Empire. In the year 1565, French traveler Pertus Gyllius wrote about the cistern in his records. He recounted seeing fishes in the water while being rowed between the columns.

Basilica Cistern Architecture

From the different types of granite used to carve the pillars, historians conclude that the Romans utilized second-hand or recycled materials to build this Cistern. Recycled pillars from around the empire were brought in to make the pillars of the cistern. Even wasted pillars from the Hagia Sophia were used. This process of reusing building parts from a different construction is called Spoliation. A thirteen feet thick wall clad with waterproof material surrounds the cistern. The cistern is reached by climbing down a staircase containing fifty-two steps.

Emperor Justinian built two aqueducts to supply water to the aqueducts. One is the hundred and fifteen-meter long Mağlova Aqueduct and the other longer one is the Valens Aqueduct which is nine hundred and seventy-one meters long.

"Basilica Cistern Inside Water"

Throughout the course of history, the Basilica Cistern went through many restorations. Sultan Ahmet the third ordered the first major restoration in the year 1723. This restoration was carried out by the famous Kayserian architect Muhammad Ağa. Sultan Abdul Hamid in the nineteenth century did the second major repair. It underwent some additional restoration in the years 1968 and 1985, during which, almost fifty thousand tons of mud were removed from within the cistern. The same year, platforms were created for tourists to walk on. Before that, boats were used to tour the Cistern.

Basilica Cistern Popularity Among Culture

The Basilica Cistern has a huge influence on popular culture. From James Bond movies to novels, fantasy series to Hollywood hits, video games, Dan Brown novels, and whatnot! It played a very important role in the 1963 James Bond film 'From Russia with Love' where this place was portrayed as a facility under the Soviet consulate. In the 2009 film The International, it is depicted as being under the Sultan Ahmet Mosque. But in real life, neither is it anywhere near a Russian consulate, nor under the Sultan Ahmet Mosque. It also played a key role in Jean Baptiste Andrea's thriller Brotherhood of Tears which was released in 2013 where Turkish actor Ali Pınar played a mysterious client.

In Dorothy Dunnett's novel Pawn in Frankincense, which is the fourth volume of The Lymond Chronicles, Basilica Cistern plays a huge role. Similarly, in Dan Brown's novel Inferno, the upside-down Medusas were featured. When the movie adoption of Inferno was released in 2016, it was featured there as well.

Basilica Cistern plays an influential role in the fantasy series 'The Old Kingdom'. Beneath the Belisaere castle was a reservoir that was inspired by it. In the year 2011, the popular videogame Assassin's Creed: Revelation had a part where the player could explore here as a memory sequence titled 'Yerebatan Cistern'. All in all it has a huge influence on popular culture.

Over 1500 years old, the Basilica Cistern is a wonder of engineering, city planning, history, and culture. It is a symbol of ancient civilization, hiding underground, but its calls reach far and wide.
Tourists from all over the world visit here and get amazed by its size and age and historical significance. If you too want to visit this amazing monument of ancient history, then contact Ottoman Tours and Travels now to get amazing deals on tours with accommodations and transportation facilities. So what are you waiting for? Book your Istanbul trip now!