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ALL TURKEY TOURS |
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INFORMATION |
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UNDERGROUND CISTERN;
Istanbul was one of the most often besieged cities
in the world and has always needed permanent water supplies.
And as a result many underground cisterns were built during
the Byzantine Empire. Water was brought to these big
reservoirs from far away sources through aqueducts.
It is still possible to see remains of a large aqueduct in
Unkapani. This is called Bozdogan Kemeri (Aqueduct of
Valens) and was built in 375 AD by the Emperor Valens.
Because Turks have always preferred running water, after
capturing the city from the Byzantines, they did not use
cisterns properly. Most of them were usually converted into
either small bazaars or storehouses. The largest and most
ornate of these cisterns is Yerebatan Sarayi. In its
construction, columns and capitals of earlier temples were
used and this provides a very decorative appearance. This is
why it is called saray which means "palace" in Turkish.
Yerebatan Sarayi was dug and built probably after 542 by
Emperor Justinian I. There are 336 columns most of which are
topped with Byzantine Corinthian capitals. The cistern is 70
m / 230 ft wide and 140 m / 460 ft long.
Between 1985-1988, the Municipality of Istanbul cleaned and
restored it thoroughly and built a wooden walkway between
the columns. In addition to that there are special effects
presented by a light and sound show. By looking at the water
level marks on the plaster walls which reach the height of
the capitals, it is possible to understand that the cistern
was very full in times gone by.
Two Medusa heads were used to form bases for two columns in
a far corner of the cistern. The position in which they were
placed suggests that the people who put them there were
Christians and did not want to revere a god of a pagan
period. The water inside the underground cistern is
collected rain water. The carp in the water are decorative
and an incidental protection against pollution. Some people
even think that the Byzantines originally also raised fish
in the cistern.
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