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One of many underground cisterns in Istanbul, the Yerebatan Saray Sarniçi (Basilica Cistern), is the largest of all. It was built in the 6th century and used to store water for the city, but was forgotten and lay undiscovered after the Ottomans conquered the city. The cistern was rediscovered in the 16th century and then used to water the gardens of Topkapi Palace. Since then, it has been drained to reveal a forest of Corinthian columns and vaulted ceilings, and an unexpected pair of Medusa heads that had been part of an ancient temple (see attached photos). The space is now open to the public, and through clever lighting and interesting music, a mystical ambiance has been created. This is a magical and most unusual historic site in Istanbul. Address: 13 Yerebatan Caddesi, Sultanahmet
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When flicking through any Lonley Planet, I always find the best section is "Things to do when travelling with children". The Basilica Cistern was featured in this chapter of the Istanbul guide and did not disappoint.
The eerie reservoir apparently lay forgotten for many years until locals reported hauling fresh drinking water from holes in the floors of their houses. An investigation was launched and the Cistern rediscovered.
The best things to do in the Basilica Cistern are:
1) See who can spot the biggest fish - there are loads of bloated carp swimming in the artificially glowing water
2) Scare each other telling ghost stories in the dark - perfect in the atmospheric lighting and to the soft background opera music, but only if you manage to miss the big tour groups.
3) Speculate about the origins of the medusa heads and the reason they are inverted - since the Cistern lay forgotten nobody knows for sure how they got there - spooky!
4) Make a wish - in the Cistern's very own version of the Hagia Sofia's Weeping Column
5) Pretend you're James Bond - part of From Russia With Love was filmed here
6) Have a nice glass of Cay - in the strangest cafe in Istanbul!
And another good thing is that you can spend as little or as much time as you like here – so if you only have half an hour, it’s still worth a visit. Leave a Comment Address: Yerebatan C No: 13 34410 Sultanahmet-İstanbulPhone: (0212) 522 12 59Directions: Near to the Hagia Sofia, Sultanahmet, IstanbulWebsite: http://www.yerebatan.com/english/index.html Other Contact: info@yerebatan.com
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 by beatle74
Medusa as an Archetype
Medusa has historically been seen as the archetype of the nasty mother, however she is far more complex. She symbolizes the following:
Sovereign female wisdom. The female mysteries. All the forces of the primordial Great Goddess: The Cycles of Time as past, present and future. The Cycles of Nature as life, death and rebirth. She is universal Creativity and Destruction in eternal Transformation. She is the Guardian of the Thresholds and the Mediatrix between the Realms of heaven, earth and the underworld. She is Mistress of the Beasts. Latent and Active energy.
Connection to the earth. The union of heaven and earth. She destroys in order to recreate balance. She purifies.
She is the ultimate truth of reality, the wholeness beyond duality. She rips away our mortal illusions. Forbidden yet liberating wisdom. The untamable forces of nature. As a young and beautiful woman she is fertility and life. As crone she consumes by devouring all on the earth plane. Through death we must return to the source, the abyss of transformation, the timeless realm. We must yield to her and her terms of mortality. She reflects a culture in harmony with nature.
And.....You'll find out that Medusa is in there!!! But before that, please
watch out the stairs, sometimes they can be really slippery. Leave a Comment Directions: Sultan Ahmet
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 Entrance to Basilica Cistern,
Istanbul by Donna_in_India, 4 more photos
The 336 marble columns are 26 feet high. The cistern is 210 feet wide and 420 feet long. It is very dark and slightly eerie as you walk along the wooden walkways to the constant drip, drip, drip of the water coming from the Byzantine arches and domes atop of the columns. But it is also peaceful, cool, and somehow beautiful.
In a far corner is a shrine to the water nymphs which is marked by two columns resting on huge Medusa heads. One head is completely upside down and one faces sideways. The myth is that if you look at Medusa directly you would turn to stone, which may explain the positioning of the heads. In any case, they were very cool!
There are also a wish pool where you can throw a coin or two while making your wish and a “tear column” which has very cool tear-drop shaped carvings in it.
It’s a great place to escape the heat or the crowds of the city and is rather interesting. You can spend about 30-60 minutes here depending on the line to see the Medusa heads. There is also a small cafe at the end of the walkway towards the exit.
The cistern is in the Sultanahmet area and within walking distance of Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and Topkapi Palace. There are plenty of restaurants and cafes along the small park just outside of the cistern in case you need a tea break!
Do be careful as the walkways can be slippery.
Open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Admission 10 TL Leave a Comment Address: 13 Yerebatan CadPhone: 522 12 59Directions: Sultanahemet Square, opposite Hagia Sophia. Tram stop: SutlanahmetWebsite: www.yerebatan.com
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It is a brilliant structure that was built in the 6th century. Cistern is a water reservoir. It was built to provide fresh water from Belgrade Woods for the area's people.
The cistern is 70 m wide and 140 m long. It contains 336 columns - 18 rows, each row has 18 columns.
This huge reservoir wasn't discovered by Turks immediately. It took them some time to find this place. They didn't have any idea that such water supply existed until they noticed that local people were catching fish without getting out of their houses -they just used hatches on the floor.
The atmosphere inside the cistern is just awesome - it's kind of dark, the columns are illimunated red and there's a soft music.
The entrance fee is 10 liras Directions: Sultanahmed, near Topkapi Palace
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One of the most magnificent historical structures of Istanbul is the Basilica Cistern in the south west of the Hagia Sophia. This enormous underground cistern was built by Byzantine Emperor Justinianus and thanks to the marble columns rising from the water level and seeming countless in number it was named Yerebatan Sarayi. Length of the cistern is 140 meters with a width of 70 meters. To reach the cistern one climbs down 52 stone steps, there are 336 columns with a hight of 9 meters. The entire size of the cistern is 9800 square meters and has a capacity to hold 100.000 tons of water. Leave a Comment
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This beautiful underground cistern was built during the reign of Emperor Justinian in the 6th century, and is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that still lie beneath the city of Istanbul. It is 143m long and 65m wide, and covers a total area of 9,800 sq m. There are 336 marble columns, mainly in the ionic and corinthian styles, each 9m high. The cistern's water was provided from the Belgrade Woods, 19kn north of the city, via aqueducts also built by Justinian.
It's name derives from the fact that ancient historians believed it was built around an older cistern and basilica of the reign of Constantine. It's also known as the sinking palace, for obvious reasons!
The Medusa's heads column bases in the northwestern corner are thought to be remnants of a older, late Roman, building. One rests on it's side, the other is upside down; probably placed that way deliberately, for unknown reasons.
Another column popular with tourists is the Peacock Eyed column - it has a hole in it with a worn circle around it. Placing your thumb in the hole and rotating your fingers 360 degrees is supposed to be lucky (there's a similar pillar with hole in the Hagia Sophia).
The atmospheric lighting in this place makes it very dramatic, and the constant dripping of water gives it a cave-like, almost spooky feel. I loved the fact that there were fish swimming in the water beneath the walkways.
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 entrance ticket by iaint
its cool, so cool, so worth the entry fee for that alone!
seriously, it interesting how sophisticated Byzantine plumbing can be... Address: 13 Yerebatan CaddesiPhone: 522 1259Directions: Sultanahmet
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 by JaumeBCNLeave a Comment
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 Yerebatan cistern. by Tdiver
As it says on the door,built around 532A.D. and a cooling respite from the heat above.Currently $7 to get in. Leave a Comment Address: Yerebatan caddesi,Sultanahmet.Directions: Across the road from the Hagia Sophia.
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