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Basilica Cistern Yerebatan Cistern |
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 The
Basilica Cistern shows the advanced engineering skills of
Byzantine civilization and is one of the most magnificent
historical monuments of Istanbul. Although this amazing
structure has become one of the most significant art and
cultural centers of Istanbul today, it was used as a reservoir
for water starage for the Hagia Sophia during the Byzantine
period and for Topkapi Palace during the Ottoman period. The
cistern, located to the southwest of Hagia Sophia, was built by
Justinian I in the 6th century.
The Ottomans renamed this cistern "the Yerebatan Palace” which
means the sunken palace, for its glamorous columns that rise
from the water. They only used the cistern for watering because
of sanitary concems.
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 As
the story goes, the construction of the Basilica Cistern, which
required the service of 7,000 slaves, was completed at the same time
as the construction of the Hagia Sophia. The water stored in the
Basilica Cistern came from the Belgrade Forest distributed via the
Aqueduct of Valens (Bozdogan) constructed by the Emperor Valens in
368, and the Aqueduct of Maglova, constructed by Constantine I. The
cistern, an architectural masterpiece at the time it was built, is
140 m long and 70 m wide. There is a stone ladder, which has 52
steps in the Cistern as well. The Basilica Cistern has a ceiling
supported by 336 columns, each of which is 9 m long. if you consider
the fact that each column is as high as the totallength of 5 people,
the feeling of greatness created by it can be fully appreciated.
High marble columns arising from the dark water give people the
impression of walking in a foggy and mysterious forest. In other
words the darkness of the cistern makes this place seem quite
magical. The classical music broadcast throughout the cistem and the
melodic sounds of flowing water captivate visitors while
simultaneously creating a serene environment with the combination of
its visual works of art. Concrete paths, which were added between
the columns for visitors in the 1980s, give the columns the
prominence of artifacts themselves. These marble and granite columns,
nearly all of which are assumed to have been collected from old
buildings of the pagan Roman period, are generally made of massiye
pieces of stone.
The brick walls of the cistern, which are about 5 m thick, and the
brick-fitted floor were made to be impermeable by plastering it with
thick Horasan mortar. Plinths of the two columns in the northwest
corner of the cistern are one of the most interesting artifacts of
the museum. These Medusa-headed plinths are also assumed to have
been brought from pagan Roman temples. These fantastic pieces from
the 4th century show us the range that sculptured art reached during
the Roman period.
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Anatolian Kavak and Lighthouse