Basilica Cisterns of Istanbul - Istanbul, Turkey
A marvel of Byzantine engineering under the streets of Istanbul.
A Frenchman visiting Constantinople (now Istanbul) in the 1500s heard strange stories of locals drawing up fresh water and even fishing from holes in their cellars. Intrigued by these stories and the legends of great underground temples, he decided to explore.
Upon further investigation, he rediscovered a subterranean marvel, the largest of the long-forgotten palatial cisterns of the Byzantine Empire. Fish swam in an artificial freshwater lake the size of two football fields and the vaulted brick ceilings were held up by 336 30-foot pillars scavenged from nearby Roman ruins.
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Amazingly preserved despite centuries of conflict and siege, the cistern was built in 532 by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I to store fresh water for the palace and nearby buildings. Nicknamed Yearbatan Sarayi, or “The Sunken Palace” in Turkish, it is known in English as the “Basilica Cistern” because of its location on the site of an ancient basilica.
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https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/...terns-istanbul