Basilica Cistern: a man-made wonder reservoir of the 4th century

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Usually, when mentioning sights, most people have images of pompous palaces, ancient fortresses or majestic cathedrals, but the Basilica Cistern falls out of the general row of ancient monuments, because this special man-made miracle is … a reservoir of the 4th century. And this most mysterious, exciting engineering and architectural creation is located underground in the very historical center of modern Istanbul.

This is perhaps the most mysterious and unique attraction that Istanbul inherited from Byzantine architects who created an unusual underground water reservoir. Back in 306, the Basilica Cistern began to be built by order of the Roman emperor Constantine, who decided to provide Byzantium (Constantinople) with a supply of drinking water.

For two centuries, thousands of slaves created a beauty unprecedented for underground structures, which can really be compared with the grandeur of a royal palace. Particularly surprising is how they managed to arrange a system of water conduits underground, which delivered water from natural sources located in the Belgrade forest, which is almost 20 km from the city itself.

Interesting:Today it is known that there are 40 underground reservoirs near Istanbul, of which Basilica Cistern is the largest. But the researchers suggest that this is not the final figure, so the search work continues.

The ancient reservoir surprises with a truly royal scale and gigantic dimensions, it reaches 140 meters in length and 70 meters in width. The total area is 9.8 thousand square meters with a water volume of 100 thousand cubic meters. Naturally, such a reservoir could provide the city with drinking water without any problems in a dry year or during a long siege.

As it became known to the authors of Novate. Ru, the underground reservoir got its unusual name “Basilica” for the reason that on the surface, just above the cistern, there was a temple that had a symbolic structure called a basilica, which literally means “place of worship”. It was a rather significant place for the residents of the city, because in those distant times, religious buildings were built on the central squares, and they themselves turned into cultural and educational centers, at which schools operated and libraries were organized.

The unique beauty of the underground reservoir deserves special attention, because it is not for nothing that the Turks call it Yerebatan Sarnici - an underground palace. To see this unprecedented beauty with your own eyes, you need to overcome 52 stone steps and then you will see 12 rows of majestic columns, in each of which 28 marble supports with a height of 8 meters rise.

And the most striking thing is that you will not find exactly the same among 336 columns, they are made of various types of marble and were brought from various temples and not only Byzantine ones. Arched cross vaults lined with thin bricks (plinths) hold the ceiling of the cistern, and 4-meter-thick walls lined with refractory bricks and treated with a unique waterproofing solution have been supporting the structure for more than 1500 years, however, there is practically no water left in it.

But this is not surprising, because the Turks who seized the city in 1453 practically did not use the reservoir, and it not only fell into decay - it was forgotten. Over time, he was again discovered, and in a very interesting way: the French traveler noticed how the townspeople were fishing in their gardens in the formed gaps, under the floorboards right in the house or in ordinary wells. He was the first to suggest that it was in this place that the Basilica Cistern is located, which was mentioned in ancient manuscripts, but the authorities completely ignored this fact and did it for several centuries in a row.

Only in the middle of the last century, scientists succeeded in restoring this unique architectural monument, which clearly testified to the remarkable talent of not only architects, but also engineers who calculated the very design of the cistern and the water supply system through the galleries and aqueducts of Constantinople, began to be restored. Considering that the Basilica Cistern had been inactive for so many years, tons of silt and mud had accumulated in it, so it took a very long time to put everything in order and organize a safe area for excursions.

Since 1987, after the official opening, the Basilica Cistern has become one of the most exciting and mysterious attractions in Istanbul. The organizers of the underground museum took special care of the atmosphere prevailing in this majestic and beautiful place. For this, subdued lighting of all the columns and the vaulted ceiling was organized, and the soothing music, enhanced by excellent acoustics, creates an impression of the unreality of what is happening.

Naturally, in this underground kingdom, among the 336 columns, there are those that are most popular and, as a result, are overgrown with legends. One of the most popular attractions is the "weeping" column, decorated with amazing carvings that look like eyes or a peacock's tail. At the same time, it is the only column from which water flows down in a thin layer and from this it has a green color. moreover, eyewitnesses claim that it looks like it was not millions of years ago that bizarre green plants grew. Such an unusual view not only attracts tourists, they came up with a special magical ritual, after the fulfillment of which the most cherished desire was fulfilled.

In an accessible place on this column there is a small hole into which lovers of everything magical simply insert a finger and, without lifting their palms from the surface of the support, contrive to rotate the hand through 360 degrees, and especially zealous argue that then you need to taste the taste of life-giving moisture (i.e. lick your finger!).

There are two more columns that are of interest, they are located at the back of the Basilica Cistern. Approaching them, visitors are freezing from the fact that the Heads of Medusa the Gorgon, which serve as a support for two columns, are looking at them. No, they do not frighten modern people, but surprise with their position.

The face of one is rotated 90 degrees, presumably it was brought from the temple of Apollo at Didyma, located on the Aegean coast. And the second one is completely upside down, but where she was delivered from remains a mystery, because the expression on her face does not look like any of the usual images. Given this location of the sculpture, it is not surprising that several versions of why it ended up on the head have appeared.

One of them says that the builders put it exactly so as to neutralize the mythical abilities of Medusa the Gorgon to turn people into stone, according to another version - in this way the ancestors tried to carry out preventive and disinfecting measures, because as you know, in those days this kind of amulet served as protection against "Diseases of the womb."

But whatever the motives for the arrangement of the columns in this way, all this underground splendor causes indescribable delight among visitors, because there are not so many mysterious and exciting places on the planet left.