Basilica Cistern
The Basilica Cistern [1] is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns under the city of Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), Turkey. The cistern, is close to the Hagia Sophia.
History
Emperor Justinian I commissioned his city prefect Longinus to build it.[2] It was completed in 532, after the Nika riots.[2] As many as 7,000 slaves worked to build the cistern.[3]
The large cistern provided a water source for the emperor's palace.[4] Sometime before the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 the cistern was closed.[4] It was discovered in 1545 by Petrus Gyllius. After that Ottoman city officials used it for dumping waste including corpses.[5] It has been restored at least three times.[5] In 1985 it was closed for cleaning again.[4] In 1987 it was opened to the public as a tourist attraction.[4] 2 million tourists visited the Cistern in 2013.
Size
The cistern is a huge underground room that measures about 138 metres (453 ft) by 64.6 metres (212 ft)[6] It is about 10,000 square metres (2.5 acres) in area.[7] The cistern can hold 80,000 cubic metres (21,000,000 US gal) of water.[7] The ceiling is supported by 336 marble columns.[8] Each one is 40.75 metres (133.7 ft) high.[8]
Modern Culture
The cistern was used for a James Bond movie From Russia with Love.[9] Also the 2009 movie The International was shot here.[9] The 2011 video game, Assassin's Creed: Revelations includes scenes from the Basilica Cistern.[9]
Basilica Cistern Media
Cisterna Basilica is located to the west of Hagia Sophia and is of a similar size. The square on the left of the map marks the location of the Cistern of Philoxenos.
The second Medusa head pillar
Art installation inside Basilica Cistern
Columns and vaults of Basilica Cistern
Vista showing the reused Roman columns and capitals in the Basilica Cistern
Atmospheric lighting now brightens up a visit to the Basilica Cistern
Unique "peacock-eyed" column in the Basilica Cistern
References
- ↑ Turkish: Yerebatan Sarayı – "Sunken Palace", or Yerebatan Sarnıcı – "Sunken Cistern"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian, ed. Michael Maas (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 68
- ↑ Aigerim Korzhumbayeva (20 July 2012). "Istanbul's (Constantinople) 6th Century Basilica Cistern". ELECTRUM MAGAZINE. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Basilica Cistern". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Verity Campbell, Turkey (Footscray (VIC); Oakland, CA: Lonely Planet Publications, 2007), p. 108
- ↑ "The Basilica Cistern". ibb.gov.tr. Archived from the original on 8 December 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Basilica Cistern, Istanbul". Travel Info Exchange, Inc. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Pierre Gilles; Kimberly May Byrd, Pierre Gilles' Constantinople: A Modern English Translation with Commentary (New York, NY: Italica Press, 2008), p. 101
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "walking in a 6th century cistern underneath the City of Istanbul, Turkey". Kos Media, LLC. 16 February 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.