 |
| Basilica Arches |
It
is weird to visit a place that you have seen before. The Basilica Cistern was used as a location
for the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love. As we descended the stairs, there were naves
of romantically lit columns, hence a basilica.
In fact, our word for a major church comes from the Ancient Roman architectural form; however, they used it for many different secular purposes from stock exchanges to legal courts.
In fact, our word for a major church comes from the Ancient Roman architectural form; however, they used it for many different secular purposes from stock exchanges to legal courts.
Basilica Cistern Map
The maps and signs in Turkish will
call it Yerebatan Sarayı or “Sunken Palace”.
It was never a palace but it was the site of a Roman basilica used for
commercial and legal purposes. The
cistern is located 290 m east of the Sultanahmet tram stop and just on the
other side of Divan Yolu Caddesi (the tram street) from Hagia Sophia. Unfortunately, the Basilica Cistern (open
09:00 to 18:30 hrs, TRY 10) is not included in the Istanbul Museum Card,
which is not recommended.
Golden Milestone
 |
| Milion Milestone |
The Milliarium Aureum (Golden
Milestone) in the Roman Forum marked the centre point for the Roman Empire. It is from here that all distances were
measured and it was the basis for the expression “all roads lead to Rome”.
In a pit on the north side of Divan
Yolu is a non-descript, single stele. Most
tourists just pass it by. It does not
look very impressive. Like the name of
the city (Nova Roma), Constantine based the Milion on the Golden Milestone in Rome. It marked the centre point for the new Roman Empire
(it was only called Byzantine Empire
in the 16th century).
 |
| Afrodisias Tetrapylon |
But all roads really did lead to Nova Roma, i.e. Constantinople, because it was the financial capital of the
Roman Empire; it was the terminus of the Silk Routes, both by land and by
sea. Now imagine that the Milion was a
double triumphal arch surmounted by a dome.
You have to visit Afrodisias to see what a tetrapylon (four
arches) looks like. Now image the arches
on the right in Istanbul supporting a dome and that it had survived until the 15th century.
Basilica Cistern Purpose
 |
| Ottoman Dress-Up |
The
Basilica Cistern is a Byzantine underground water reservoir built in the 6th
century during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. Several kilometres north of here you can
still see a small portion of the Valens Aqueduct that carried water to
here. The cistern provided water for the
Great Palace of Constantinople and other buildings on the First Hill (of the Seven Hills of Constantinople). It
provided water to the Topkapi Palace after the Ottoman conquest in 1453. After descending the stairs there is a small
shop. One concession provides colourful Ottoman costumes you can put and have
your picture taken.
 |
| Basilica Columns |
Basilica Cistern
Columns
The
dimly lit cavern is a cathedral of 336 columns, arranged in 12 rows of 28
evenly spaced marble columns. The capitals of the columns towering above you
have diverse styles, which suggest that these columns came from other
buildings.
 |
| Ionic Columns Holding Up a Mountain |
The Greek Ionic
style actually originated in Turkey. What? As discussed in How is Priene connected to Architecture?, the Greek League of Ionia was located on the Turquoise Coast between Priene and Didyma.
 |
| Drowning Medusa |
There
are very few paths through the cistern maze but make sure you visit the furthest
northwest point from the entry stairs.
The bases of two columns reuse blocks that already had images of Medusa. She thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world and was constantly looking at her reflection.
Unfortunately, on her visit to the Parthenon, Medusa said she was more beautiful than the statue of Athena, the goddess of beauty and wisdom.
Athena suddenly appeared and turned Medusa's hair into a nest of snakes, made her face ugly, and empowered her eyes to turn anyone who looked at her to stone.
For the same reason, Medusa could no longer look on her face in a mirror! A famous statue by Cellini in Florence depicts Perseus after he cut off Medusa's head with his sword.
 |
| Don't Look at Medusa |
It is hard to believe that Medusa's gaze could turn you into stone but the Ancients were a very superstitious lot. Our expression “getting up the wrong side
of the bed” originates in Ancient Rome when it was considered bad luck to get
up on the left side of the bed! The
Latin word for left is sinistra, the
origin of our word sinister! It is no
wonder that left-handed people were deemed evil.
 |
| Alexander GR8 & Medusa |
The symbolism of Medusa was used throughout society. In this photo taken in Napoli (Naples), we see Alexander the Great wearing an image of Medusa on his breast armour.
From Gloom to Bloom
 |
| Sultanahmet Tulips |
Well
from gloom we went to bloom. The Basilica Cistern did not take long so we went
around the Sultanahmet Park and the Hippodrome (coming to a post near you) to
take photos in the sunshine.
It
finally turned warmer today. The tulips
were in full bloom. The word tulip is derived from the Persian word ‘tulipan’ which means turban. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent introduced the Central Asian tulip to Europeans. It is a symbol of life and fertility and is a popular motif on pottery and tiles.
 |
| Sultanahmet School Kids |
Sultanahmet Park is a great place for people watching - there is a mixture of locals and tourists.
It is also a great place for views of historic Hagia Sophia.
Hagia Sophia
This
is the third church on this site. While
there have been many earthquakes that have damaged the building, the first two
churches were destroyed by rebellions during the Byzantine era, which will be
discussed in the Hippodrome post.
 |
| Hagia Sophia |
The current Hagia Sophia was the world's largest
cathedral with the largest dome built since the Pantheon in Rome and until the
dome erected by Brunelleschi at the beginning of the Renaissance to complete
the Duomo in Florence, Italy.
After
1453 the Ottomans quickly transformed the city from a bastion of Christianity
to a symbol of Islamic culture. So the
Church of Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque complete with minarets.
However, the Greek influence in Turkish history is palpable. Constantinople was originally simply called Istimbolin by the Greek residents meaning “(in) The City”, which was in turn was derived from the Greek word polis (city). Today the name has changed back to Istimbolin, now spelled Istanbul.
Last Post: Grand Bazaar – Gigantic!
Next Post: Hippodrome – Off to the Races
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please add your comments or questions