TURKISHCOURSE

After Aya Sofya, we visited next Istanbul attraction - the Basilica cistern.

The Basilica Cistern, also called the Yerebatan Saray? or Yerebatan Sarn?c?, is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that still lie beneath the city of Istanbul, former Constantinople, Turkey. This cistern, located in the historical peninsula of Istanbul next to the Hagia Sophia, was built during the reign of emperor Justinian I in the 6th century, the age of glory of Eastern Rome, also called the Byzantine Empire.

The bases of two of the columns reuse earlier blocks carved with the head of a Medusa. They are located in the northwest corner of the cistern. The origin of the two heads is unknown, though it is rumoured that the heads were brought to the cistern after being removed from an antique building of the late Roman period. Another mystery is why one of the heads is upside down, while the other is tilted to one side. It is commonly accepted by scientists that they were placed that way deliberately.