Basilica Cistern

It is also known as the basilica cistern because it was located under the Basilica Cistern Stoa Basilica, built by Emperor Justinianus in 532. The cistern is a giant structure with a rectangular area of ​​70 meters in length of 140 meters wide. There are 336 columns, each 9 meters high, each. These columns, planted at 4.80 meters intervals, form 28 12 rows in each row.

These columns rising in the water remind an endless forest and affect the visitor as soon as they enter. The ceiling weight of the cistern is a cross -shaped vaults round, transferred to the columns by means of arches, most of them are collected from older structures and most of the columns carved from granite of various marble breeds consist of one piece of one piece and some of them. The headings of these columns have different characteristics. 98 of them reflect the Corinth style while reflecting the Doric style in one part. The cistern is knitted from the brick, the walls of 4.80 meters and the brick -furnished floor was plastered with a thick layer of Horasan mortar and waterproof. This cistern, which has a total area of ​​9 thousand 800 square meters, has a storage capacity of approximately 100 thousand tons of water.

In the construction of 7 thousand slaves, the water of the cistern was built by the Emperor Valens (368) in the 971 -meter -long valens (Bozdoğan) belt and the 115.45 meters long Mervova belt built by Emperor Justinianus, 19 kilometers from the Belgrade forests were brought from the center of Taksim. The majority of the columns in the cistern, which are angular or grooved, are cylindrical. In these columns, the peacock eye, drooping branches, tear shapes in the case of carving and embossing are particularly noteworthy. This column in the Byzantine era "Farum Tauri" called today's Beyazıd Square IV. It is similar to the columns of the Great Theodesius (379-395) of the century.

The two Medusa heads used as a base under two columns in the northwest corner of the cistern are the masterpieces of the Roman Age sculpture art. Cistern visits to visitors in astonishment IV. Although there is no definite information about the structure of these heads of the 18th century, it is thought that it was brought from an ancient structure of the Young Roman Age and brought here.

After the conquest of Istanbul by the Ottomans in 1453 by the Ottomans, the Jewish Cistern was used for a while and water was given to the gardens of the Topkapi Palace, where the sultans lived. The cistern, which was understood that the Ottomans, who preferred fountain water instead of stagnant water, did not use their own water facilities in the city, was rediscovered by the Dutch traveler P. Gyllius who came to Istanbul in 1544-1550 to investigate the Byzantine ruins.

Basilica cistern has passed through various repairs to the present day. The first repair of the cistern, who was restored twice during the Ottoman Empire, was in the 18th century III. It was built by Mehmet Ağa from Kayseri during the reign of Ahmet. The second largest repair in the 19th century Sultan II. Abdulhamid (1876-1909). The largest repair of the Republican period was made in 1985. With the removal of 50 thousand tons of sludge and the travel platform, it was completed on 9 September 1987 and opened to visitors again.