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 Yerebatan Cistern by Paul2001
The Yerebatan Cistern is open from 9am to 5pm everyday but Tuesday when it is closed. It cost 10,000,000 lira to enter at the time of my visit. That is about $7.00US. Leave a Comment Phone: 0212/522-1259Directions: Yerebatan Cad. around the corner from St. Sophia, Sultanahmet
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 Yerebatan Sarnici by H-TownJourneyman |
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 by gilabrand
This underground reservoir was built by the Emperor Justinian in the 6th century to store water brought via aqueduct from 19 kilometers away. The arched roof is supported by marble columns, 336 in all (I didn’t count; I read the sign outside…). These columns are lit up to create a wonderful play of light and shadow. You walk through on a wooden walkway to the sounds of soft classical music and dripping water. If you look closely, there are goldfish darting around in the water.
One column with a greenish tint and a swirly circle pattern has a thumb-size hole in the side. Stick your finger in, swivel your hand around and make your wish. I saw a similar column on a traffic island on the main boulevard of Sultanahmet. So if the line is too long in the cistern, I bet that one works just as well.
Justinian’s builders didn’t actually carve all these Ionic, Doric and Corinthian columns: This was a case of ancient recycling: They reused materials from old buildings. From the giant carved Medusa heads in one corner of the cavernous structure, one upside down and the other on its side, it seems clear these builders never attended any courses in art appreciation.
In Greek mythology, Medusa was a gorgeous gal with a great head of hair, but Athena, queen of the gods, was jealous. She turned her into a monster with serpents growing out of her head, and anyone who looked at her turned into stone. Ever since my trip to Istanbul, I think of poor Medusa when I have a bad hair day (which is often).
The Turks are an enterprising bunch. After removing centuries of mud from the cistern and reopening it in 1987, they didn’t forget to build a café on a wooden deck in the corner. Sometimes there are concerts here. Overhead hangs a large piece of plastic sheeting, insuring that diners and musicians stay dry. Leave a Comment Directions: Near Aya Sofia Entrance fee: 10 YTL Opening hours: 9 am - 3 pm (presumably, the concerts are in the evening)
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 by MalenaN
It is a quite nice atmospher in the cistern with classical music playing in the background, waterdropps dripping from the roof and rows of columns.
The columns are reused from ruined buildings. Medusa heads are supporting two of the columns. One of them is uppside down the other is lying on the side. For what reason it is like that is not known, but medusaheads were often incorporated in buildings of homes at a time for protection/luck.
The entrance fee is 10 000 000 TL. Leave a Comment Directions: Close to Aya Sofya
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 Yerebatan SArnici by KIZGINdamdakiKedi
The cisterns which were used to supply water to the Byzantium palaces and the surrounding buildings were used for watering the sultan's palace gardens for a short time during the Ottomans after their conquest of Istanbul in 1453 A.D. The Ottomans who preferred flowing water to stagnant one constructed their own water system in the city and the water from the cistern was no longer used.
open 7 days in a week between 9a.m.-5p.m. Leave a Comment Address: Yerebatan Cad. No:13 Sultanahmet / İstanbulDirections: take a metro/subway to go to Sultanahmet area. you will see the sign to "YEREBATAN SARNICI ",just follow it or you can ask anybody around there,they will show you.Other Contact: contact@yerebatansarnici.com
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 by midnight_mike |
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 Interior of Bascilica
Cistern by AcornMan
For a century after their conquest of the city in 1453, the Ottomans remained oblivious to the existence of the cistern and rediscovered it only after local residents were seen collecting water and even fish by lowering buckets through holes in their basements. Even today there are fish swimming around in the shallow water. Leave a Comment Address: Northeast end of the Hippodrome
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 fouad 2006 by fouads
think to inter so we inter it and pay 10ytl=8$ per one , then i surprise so much in the
scence i saw inside it ,it,s underground cistern with 336 marbile columns and between them rows
and the cistern wall thickness is 4 meter ,and the ground is full of water with little light
it give you beautfull scence . so don,t miss it never Address: sultanahmet areaDirections: near blue mosque , just 1 min walk
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The cistern was built by Justinian in the 6th century A.D. and was used as a water supply for his palace complex which was located in the areas where Sultanahmet Park, Blue Mosque, and surroundings used to be. Water was transported from the Black Sea via aqueducts and stored here with a capacity of 80,000 cubic meters. The series and arrangement of supporting columns in this underground facility is an example of Byzantine engineering at its finest. Many of the columns were taken from old buildings and have ornamentation including the two Medusa head-base columns in teh back of the cistern complex.
Interestingly the complex was largely forgotten until sometime after the Muslim Conquest after it was learned that residents in the area were able to obtain water by lowering buckets through holes in their basements.
Visitors walk along a series of raised wooden platforms through the somewhat tastefully lit columns. Fish can be seen swimming in the shallow waters. It is nice and cool in this subterranean facility and there is also a small cafe if you want to delay going back out into the summer heat. Walking through the complex will only take the casual visitor about 30 minutes but is definitely worth a visit. Leave a Comment Address: Yerebatan Caddesi 13, SultanahmetPhone: 212.522.12.59Directions: On Yerebatan Caddesi near where it meets up with Divan Yolu CaddesiWebsite: www.yerebatan.com
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 The Tear Column by H-TownJourneyman |
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