Browse Descriptions for: Basilica Cistern

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Rating: 0 | Votes: 0 | Date: 01/01/0001 00:00:00

Rows of ancient columns rising from dark, still water beneath the streets of old Istanbul make the Basilica Cistern one of the most atmospheric and surprising sights in the city. The largest of the many underground cisterns built beneath the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, it was constructed in the sixth century AD under the emperor Justinian to store water for the great palace and the surrounding buildings, fed by aqueducts from the forests to the north. The vast subterranean chamber is su...