Basilica Cistern

Greetings from one of my favorite places in Istanbul,


The Basilica Cistern, an underground waterway used as a reservoir for water storage. It is a spectacular place. The mixture of ambiance is amazing. Stunning. I could stay there for hours.






The Basilica Cistern was built by Justinian I after the bloody Nika Revolt in 532, an enlargement of an earlier cistern which was constructed by Constantine the Great. During the Byzantium Period, it was used as a reservoir for water storage for the Great Palace and other buildings in the First Hill. During the Ottoman Period, the water was used for Topkapi Palace and watering the gardens of it.



There are 336 columns in the cistern in 12 rows. Most of the column capitals are either in Corinthian or Doric in style. The vaulted brick roof is supported by the columns, each over 30 feet tall, and water was pumped through over 40 miles of aqueducts from a reservoir near the Black Sea. Although the extra water was needed by the city during long sieges, Justinian originally built it to correct water shortages at his nearby Great Palace.

The carp in the water are decorative and an incidental protection against pollution. Some people even think that the Byzantines originally also raised fish in the cistern.

In the cistern the light and classical music accompanies the sound of endlessly dripping water. Water still drips melancholically through the ceiling, and the brick-domed ceiling echoes classical music.

There is one upside down Medusa head supporting one of the columns. Why it is upside down has been a question of much discussion, but the best guess is that the people who placed the stone believed that if the head was upside down, it would ward off evil spirits.

Not far from the upside-down Medusa head is a second Medusa head, which is sideways. Why one head is upside down and the other is sideways only deepens the question about their orientation. Perhaps the builders felt that to place two heads in the same orientation would empower the evil forces living in the snakes on Medusa's head. Also, their presence in the Cistern in the first place is interesting. Perhaps, since they were underwater for most of the ages, the evil forces remained safely submerged.

You might have seen this before.... The cistern was used as a location for the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love. Also....the finale of the 2009 film The International takes place in a fantasy amalgam of the Old City, depicting the Basilica Cistern.

I can so see how this place makes for a good spot in a James Bond movie. It’s incredible.

The cistern is dark with soft red hue lighting the wooden path towards the next set of columns. You only hear the echo of water dripping down the walls and trailing under your feet. As you walk the wooden planks through the maze of columns the smell of fresh water mixed with old underground architecture assaults your senses. In a good way. There is a slight chill once you descend the 100 degree heat into the 60 degree or so cistern.

Everyone you encounter along the way is quiet... something about this place makes everyone whisper. Occasionally you will see the intense flash from a camera, but the radiant red settles back on the columns and reflects off the water.

I loved it. Someone needs to make a romance film here... it’s that fantastic!

Blessings to those in ambient light,

Kristie