Basilica Cistern

We continued our day of sightseeing Saturday afternoon with a visit to the "Sunken Palace", the Basilia Cistern. A very unusual but popular tourist attraction, and I can see why! Prepare for a photo bomb!

This cistern was built as a vast underground water storage tank, constructed on the site of a great Roman basilica, hence the name. It can hold 80,000 cubic meters of water, making it one of the largest cisterns in the world.
The cistern was built in the 6th century by the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I to ensure that Constantinopel was always supplied with water. A marvel of Byzantine engineering!

The capitals of the columns are mainly in the Ionic and Corinthian style, with the exception of a few Doric capitals with no engravings. The columns are carved out of different types of marble and granite.
This column below, The Column of Tears, was carved with raised decorations of tears, said to be the slaves tears for those who died while construction.

According to a local urban myth, the cistern is said to be haunted by the ghosts of two different Medusa heads, and urban legend not supported by any evidence.
The below artwork is cold Seclusion, by Muzaffer Tuncer.

The majority of the columns in the cistern, like these Medusa heads, were reused from the ruins of older buildings. They are turned upside down, in accordance with the legend, as not to turn people who lock gazes with them into stone.

The reflections were really spectacular.

The cistern roof is supported by 336 pillars, 8m in height. As we took our time to walk across the footbridge above the water, the light kept shifting. It was like being on a movie set!

Here and there we could enjoy some art installations, modern sculptures added for revival of the basilica. They were by both Turkish and foreign artists.
This below is Jellyfish by Ali Abayoǧlu.

What a spectacular and magical place!