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The Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnıcı) is one of Istanbul’s treasures. It’s located southwest of Hagia Sophia in the Sultanahmet area of the UNESCO World Heritage listed old city.
History
The Basilica Cistern was built in the middle of the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. It receives its name from a 3rd or 4th century basilica that once stood in its place. The cistern provided water filtration for the Great Palace of Constantinople and also continued to provide water to Topkapi Palace for a short time after the Fall of Constantinople. Over 7,000 slaves were used in its construction.
The Basilica Cistern went unused for many years because the Ottomans preferred running water over still water. It’s said that people who owned houses above the cistern would drop buckets into holes in the floor to retrieve water, and some would even catch fish.
Visiting
The Basilica Cistern is open to visitors daily from 9am to 10pm. Admission for foreigners is 600₺ from 9am to 6:30pm and 1,000₺ from 7:30pm to 10pm (as of January 2024). Please note that the Museum Pass Istanbul is not accepted. The Basilica Cistern underwent an extensive restoration and reopened in mid-2022. All of the photos below are from before the restoration. I’ll update the photos after my next visit to Istanbul.
If there’s a long queue, don’t worry. It moves quickly. There are 52 stone steps to descend into the chamber, and the exit is across the street. (Note: the exit and entrance were switched after restoration, which is why there are people lined up in the picture below.)
Features
The underground chamber is massive. It measures about 138 x 65 meters (453 x 213 feet), for an area of 9,800 square meters (105,000 square feet). It’s capable of holding 80,000 cubic meters of water (2,800,000 cubic feet).
There’s a collection of 338 columns holding up the ceiling. They’re arranged in 12 rows of 28 columns each, spaced five meters (16 feet) apart. Each column is nine meters (16 feet) high. Most columns were probably recycled from other structures and may have come from all over the Byzantine Empire. The majority are in the Ionic and Corinthian style, with a few Doric columns mixed in.
Crying Column
There are a few columns to keep an eye out for. One of them is the Crying Column, which is also known as the Hen’s Eye Column. It contains engravings that appear to represent eyes and tears. According to ancient texts, the tears are a tribute to the hundreds of slaves who died during construction of the cistern. However, it’s more likely to have come from the Triumphal Arch of Theodosius I at the nearby Forum of Theodosius (now Beyazıt Square). The arch featured columns just like it and it had collapsed by 558, around the time the cistern was under construction.
Medusa Columns
In the northwest corner of the Basilica Cistern are the two most famous columns. They feature Medusa heads as column bases. Nobody knows their origin but they date back to the late Roman period. One was placed sideways while the other is upside-down.
