Atmospheric music, rosy flood lighting and the lilting sound of water lapping on marble – entering the Underground Cistern known in Turkish as Yerebatan Sarayi - or Basilica Cistern, is an experience that charms all the senses.
Built to store water, this has to be the fanciest and most enormous well you’ll ever see. The cistern dates back to Byzantine days when the city was called Constantinople.
Built by Emperor Justinian in the mid-500s, the cavernous underground water-storage area has a vaulted brick ceiling supported by a forest of Corinthian-carved marble columns.
If this eerie, magical place looks a little familiar, you may recognize it from a scene in the James Bond movie From Russia with Love.
On your walk around the Basilica Cistern, seek out the two pillars that have the face of Medusa carved onto their base.
The Basilica Cistern is in Sultanahmet. The entrance is opposite Hagia Sophia on Yerebatan Caddesi.
