Basilica Cistern

#2024Travel Review The Basilica Cistern is located in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, Turkey, adjacent to the south side of Hagia Sophia. This ancient underground water palace is huge in scale, with 336 stone pillars, and is one of the largest underground reservoirs in the area. It was built during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian the Great (527-565 AD) and was once an important source of daily drinking water for the citizens of Istanbul. Before it became a reservoir, this place was originally a church, and the ground it stood on was one of the largest squares on Istanbul's First Hill at the time. As early as the early Roman era in the 3rd and 4th centuries, it was famous as a center of commerce, law and art. However, a fire in 476 AD forced the Water Palace to be rebuilt. According to ancient documents, the palace at that time had a garden, was surrounded by colonnades, and faced the Hagia Sophia. Historical data shows that the Basilica Cistern was originally built by Constantine the Great, and was rebuilt and expanded by Justinian the Great after the Nika Rebellion in 532 AD. Historical records show that as many as 7,000 slaves were involved in the construction of the cistern. The expanded cistern not only provided a filtered water supply system for Constantinople and other buildings on the First Hill, but also continued to supply water to the Topkapi Palace after the Ottoman conquest of the area in 1453 until modern times. Since its construction, the Underground Water Palace has undergone many restorations. It was renovated twice during the Ottoman rule. Among them, in 1723, Sultan Ahmed III ordered the Kayseri province architect Mehmed Agha to oversee a renovation. A second major renovation was completed in the 19th century during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909). During the Republican era, between 1985 and 1987, the Basilica Cistern was completely renovated again, with 50,000 tons of sand and mud filling the walkways and platforms, and it was opened to locals and foreign tourists. In May 1994, it was cleaned and renovated again. #outboundtravel #globaltravel #turkey #turkeytourism #istanbul #basiccistern #rome #reservoir #ancientbuildings #architecture