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If you have just visited the Agia Sofia, your next destination should be the Yerebatan Cistern. This located virtually across the street. It is a vast underground water storage tank originally built by Constantine the Great. It was enlarged by Justinian in the 6th century. The cistern was largely neglected after the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. Yerebatan Cistern was basically became a muddy subterranean ruin until it was cleaned up and opened up in 1987. What you see today is a huge tank containing 336 columns and about 12 inches of water on the floor. Wooden planks have been laid down so you can walk amongst the columns some of which are quite decorative. On of the most famous sights within the cistern is the pedestal with the two Medusa heads carved into it. One head is on its side, the other inverted. There are also suppose to be goldfish swimming about the water but, alas I did not see any. During my visit, there was an art exhibit on display featuring images a lit on the bare walls of the cistern. This was actually pretty interesting and I do not know if the exhibit is pernament or temperory.
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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Istanbul is often described as mystical, but when you go down the steps into the cool, dark Palace Cistern (also Byzantine Cistern, Basilica Cistern or Yerebetan Sarayi), it doesn’t get more mystical and magical than that.
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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The Basilica Cistern is the largest & most famous underground Byzantine cistern in Istanbul. It is also known by it's Turkish names Yerebatan Sarnici, or Yerebatan Sarayi, which means "sunken palace". It was constructed in the mid-500's A.D. during the reign of Justinian I in order to supply water to palaces located nearby. The water was brought in from far away water sources via aquaduct, and then stored in cisterns such as this one. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the cistern fell largely unused for centuries. During the 1980's a huge restoration project was conducted on the cistern, as well as walkways and lighting being added to allow tourists to visit. The 300+ marble columns, along with the added dim, upwardly fixed lighting, the almost eerie music being played overhead, and the hundreds of fish swimming in the water all provide a great experience. There's even a cafe down here if you care for a bite to eat or a drink. Directions: Located in the Sultanahmet area
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Yerebatan Sarnici is a huge underground cistern built in 532. It is 140 metres long and 70 metres wide and the roof is supported by over 300 columns.
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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While the Hippodrome and Hagia Sophia were testaments to the wealth of the Byzantine Empire, practical things such as a sewer system and a fresh water supply were necessary in maintaining what had been the largest city in the world. The demand for hot water was accommodated by hundreds of underground cisterns. Two of these are open to visitors. The more impressive is the Basilica Cistern, a minute walk west of Hagia Sophia. The cavernous “hot water tank” was built by Constantine and supported by massive columns. Visitors will notice the strange placement of Medusa heads at the base of two of the cistern’s marble columns. It is not uncommon for visitors to test their singing voices here, as the natural acoustics of the room make it ideal for concerts and performances. The other cistern open to the public is in the basement of Nakkas, a carpet and souvenir store one block southeast of the Hippodrome. Address: Yerebatan Caddesi 13Phone: 5221259Directions: Across from Hagia Sophia
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One of İstanbul's historical art product is the Basilica Cistern which is situated at a short distance further southwest of Ayasofya. This underground cistern, which was named idiomatically by the local people as "Yerebatan Palace" because of the columns that arise from its water and create an image of a place, was constructed by Emperor Justinianus The First (527-567 A.D). It is thought that in the late years of the Roman Empire, around the 3rd and 4th Century, at the place where the cistern is found today, there existed a great Basilica which was used for trade, legal, scientific and artistic activities. . According to their findings the cistern is a vast building of 140 m. long and 70 m. wide. In this cistern, which can be reached after walking down 52 steps on stone stairs, there are 336 columns each 9 m. high spaced at a distance of 4.8 m. apart. There are 12 lines of columns each line comprising of 28 columns. The columns erected in the water in this way resemble a vast forest and for that reason they happen to be the centre of attraction to the visitors as soon as they enter the cistern. The weight of the entire cistern's ceiling is adequately distributed to the columns through round arches. These columns are considered to have been collected from ancient buildings. They Are made of various types of marble and granite stones and they are mostly of one piece each although some of them are of two pieces placed on top of each other. The heads of these columns have different specialities 98 of them depict the Corint style while as the rest depict the Dor style.
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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Built during the rule of the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Justinian in the 6th Century AD, the Bascilica Cistern was created mainly to satisfy the growing demands of the Great Palace situated on the opposite side of the Hippodrome.
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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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 cistern's roof is held up by 336 columns, each over 26 feet high. Two columns rest on Medusa head bases in a corner of the cistern. The heads were plundered by the Byzantines from earlier monuments are are thought to mark a nymphaeum (a shrine to the water nymphs). Leave a Comment Address: Northeast end of the Hippodrome
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first i thinked that i will not visit it cause i didn,t read about it but my friend Rami
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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