In the depths of history, Basilica Cistern

After the Sultanahmet tramway stop, I set off on foot. I felt that I was entering the time tunnel of the huge city towards the Basilica cistern. The social center of Byzantine, which confirms that all roads lead to Rome, a point where the Milion stone is considered the zero initial meridian came right before me, while on my right, the SultanAhmet Mosque with its huge pool fountain and the famous Hagia Sophia square mosque and museum were a little further on the right. A red-tiled building with a single-storey entrance on Yerebatan Street was built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (527-565) as a large underground cistern. The water in the cistern was brought from the Belgrad Forest thanks to the Cebeciköy Arch and by reading the signs that say that it was opened as a museum after restoration by the Municipality in 1987, I take my ticket and step into the dim hall.

I descend a ladder where the daylight is getting less and less. Although there is an increasingly intense smell of dampness, the arrangement of the magnificent columns and the acoustic of water drops echoing in my ear make me feel good. Even on a very hot summer day, while the cold air under the ground is cooling, the speeches of the tourists hummingly mix with the sounds of the water in the cistern. Magical and mysterious atmosphere. Another world beneath the chaotic city.

Thanks to the marble columns that rise from the water surface to the ceiling and look as if they are countless, it is known as the sunken palace among the people. Ceiling weight is distributed by columns and arches. Except for a few angular and grooved columns, most of them are cylindrical. Rare Byzantine artworks of the southwestern part of the cistern as two Medusa heads as column bases. Although it is not known where the Medusa heads were taken and brought to the cistern, this is the part that impresses visitors the most. Although the researchers say that the medusa head was used only as a column base, let's listen to some legends about the medusa.

Mythological story
According to one of the myths, Medusa is known as one of the 3 scary gorgons in the underworld. Medusa had the power to turn those who looked into her eyes into stone. Also, according to the other idea, in ancient times large paintings and sculptures of gorgons were put in order to protect important and special places, which may explain why the medusa base was in this cistern.

According to another myth, Medusa was a very beautiful woman with black eyes, long hair and beautiful physique. Perseus was in love with Zeus' son. Athena was also in love with Perseus, and envious of the beautiful Medusa, she turned her beautiful hair into a snake and made those who looked at her stone.

Later, Perseus decapitates the Medusa, gains her strength and defeats her enemies. Based on the story of this myth, we can say that the Byzantines placed the head of the medusa upside down, so that the eyes of the ministers are not stones. In the different version narratives of this story, it is that Medusa stone herself by looking at the mirror. Therefore, it is told that the sculptor placed the medusa in 3 different positions.

The Basilica cistern has been restored many times until today. It was restored twice during the Ottoman period. The first one was built in the 18th century during the 3rd Ahmet period. It was built for the second time during the reign of Sultan Abdulhamit in the 19th century.

During the Byzantine period, the water of the cistern was reserved for the use of the imperial palace and residents. This continued for a short time after the Ottomans conquered Istanbul in 1453. The garden of the Topkapi palace was irrigated with the water of the cistern, but the Ottomans stopped using the cistern, preferring flowing water to still water. Around 1544, a naturalist and topographer named Petrus Gyllius came to Istanbul and discovered the forgotten Byzantine ruins years later. One of them is Basilica Cistern. As he wanders around Hagia Sophia, he sees fish coming out of the water that some people take from well-like holes in the courtyards of homes. He even said that the people rowed in the cistern and fished with oil lamps, and that light leaked into the cistern from the wells and the fish were swimming under the light. Thus, he discovers the connection of the wells with the cistern, makes researches and writes them in his travel book, drawing the attention of the western world. New travelers come to discover. The Istanbul metropolitan municipality removes thousands of tons of mud with the restoration between 1985 and 1987 and adds corrections for touristic trips. Finally, as in its ancient past, the fish come back, the inverted medusa head and the harmony of the water sounds with the historical ambiance enchant the visitors.