Basilica Cistern

A vast Byzantine underground reservoir with a forest of 336 columns and two Medusa-head column bases.

Its ceiling rests on a forest of 336 marble columns, each about 9 metres high, set in 12 rows of 28. Most of the columns look recycled from older buildings. The cistern is part of the Historic Areas of Istanbul, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. Today only a little water is kept in it, so visitors can walk along raised walkways between the columns.

Why "Basilica"?

Before the cistern, a great basilica stood on the spot. It was built between the 3rd and 4th centuries as a centre for business, law and art. The cistern took its name from the large public square above it, the Stoa Basilica. Old texts say the area had gardens ringed by a colonnade facing the Hagia Sophia, and report that 7,000 enslaved people worked on the building.

Forgotten, then rediscovered

The cistern was forgotten by almost everyone except local people who still drew water from it. In 1565 the French traveller Petrus Gyllius wrote about it, and said he was rowed between the columns and saw fish swimming under the boat. A big clean-up in 1985 to 1987 removed more than 50,000 tonnes of mud, and the cistern opened as a museum in 1987.

Medusa and the movies

Two column bases in the north-west corner reuse blocks carved with the face of Medusa. Nobody knows where they came from, but they probably came from a late Roman building. The cistern appeared in the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love, and a big restoration in 2020 to 2022 replaced old tie-rods and removed concrete to reveal the original 6th-century brick floor.

On the globe

The model shows the underground hall with its rows of columns. Look for the Medusa blocks.