Headline: Hash Anne takes Türkiye
Topic: Basilica cisterns of Istanbul
1. Article by Quil tripping website :
A walk through the underground space of the Basilica Cistern is an opportunity to physically experience a world that existed 1500 years ago.
Twice the size of an American football field, the Basilica Cistern was built in the 6th century AD by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian. An orderly forest of 336 marble columns that are 30 ft high, support an extensive barrel vaulted ceiling. The cistern was built to provide water to the palace and the surrounding buildings, with the source of the water coming from the nearby Belgrade Forest through a system of aqueducts.
During Ottoman rule, the cistern fell into disuse, and eventually, its existence was forgotten. Fortunately for us, it was rediscovered in the 16th century by Dutch historian P. Gyllius. After locals told him how they were able to pull up buckets of water, and even fish, through holes in the floors of their houses, he went in search of this mysterious source, and found it. After publishing his travelogue, the cistern became an early draw for tourists to the city, and now, continues to be a very popular tourist attraction.
Even though the cistern can hold as much as 27 million gallons of water, the water depth today is normally only a few feet. The space is atmospherically lit so that you can see the high vaulted ceiling and also promotes a beautiful reflection of the many symmetric rows of columns. Unlike the early days when visitors had to use a rowboat to access the site, a series of wooden boardwalks makes it easy to walk around and explore the whole space.
The Basilica cistern is across the street from the Hagia Sofia and is part of the UNESCO designated Historic Areas of Istanbul.
2. The second article from this website :
Upon further investigation, he rediscovered a subterranean marvel, the largest of the long-forgotten palatial cisterns of the Byzantine Empire. Fish swam in an artificial freshwater lake the size of two football fields and the vaulted brick ceilings were held up by 336 thirty-foot pillars scavenged from nearby Roman ruins.
Upon further investigation, he rediscovered a subterranean marvel, the largest of the long-forgotten palatial cisterns of the Byzantine Empire. Fish swam in an artificial freshwater lake the size of two football fields and the vaulted brick ceilings were held up by 336 thirty-foot pillars scavenged from nearby Roman ruins.
Amazingly preserved despite centuries of conflict and siege, the cistern was built in 532 AD by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I to store fresh water for the palace and nearby buildings. Nicknamed Yearbatan Sarayi, or “The Sunken Palace” in Turkish, it is known in English as the “Basilica Cistern” because of its location on the site of an ancient basilica.
When Justinian undertook the building of the cistern, Constantinople was still in the shadow of the devastating Nika Revolt which took place in January of that year. The Byzantine equivalent of soccer riots gone massively out of control, the revolt took place in the wake of a hotly contested chariot race and culminated in the burning of much of the imperial city, and the killing of 30,000 rioters by Justinian’s troops. The cisterns were built as part of the rebuilding efforts in the aftermath.
In the past, visitors could rent a rowboat to float past the columns in the dripping gloom. Restorations in the late 1980s dredged the silted-in floor and added lighting, elevated walkways, and a cafe for visitors. There are still fish in the now-shallow water, helping to keep the water clear.
The two giant Gorgon-head pillar bases at the far end of the cistern are an intriguing mystery. It is suspected that they may have been pulled out of an older pagan temple, where motifs of the famous Gorgon Medusa were used as a protective emblem. It is possible that the placement of these two faces — upside down and sideways, at the base of pillars — may have been a deliberate display of the power of the new Christian Empire. Or it’s possible that the stones were just the right size.
