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Basilica Cistern: Look Back at Medusa without Turning into Stone
Basilica Cistern, Istanbul
I
am glad I know about Dan Brown's book, because much to my delight, Istanbul
has this travel gem known as the Basilica Cistern,
which can also be found in the Mr. Brown's book-turned-movie, Inferno. Tom Hanks, you are so cool for
going underground and swimming in this red-lit historical water-filled place.
Turkey is home to the Yerebatan Sarnıcı – "Cistern
Sinking Into Ground", which is the largest of several hundred ancient
cisterns that lie beneath the city of Constantinople (now
known as Istanbul). You certainly would not want to miss this, especially if
you are a Dan Brown fan like me.
Just below a large public square Stoa
Basilica, and a few blocks away
from Hagia
Sophia, this old subterranean
structure known as the Basilica Cistern by Emperor Justinian, was
reconstructed by Illus after
a fire in 500++ AD. History says that 7,000 slaves were
involved in the construction of the cistern, and it
was rediscovered by Frenchman Petrus Gyllius in 1545, when he
found locals selling very fresh fish in the nearby streets, because their
houses were located just above it and they had sunk wells into it and sometimes
caught fishes from it. Its history is quite compelling, but the most
interesting part for me is finding out that Medusa can be found here.
It looks quite fitting, given that this From
Russia With Love (1963) movie
place is eerie and unusual looking. If Medusa was real, she would most
likely lived in the Basilica Cistern.
She is this infamous monster, winged human female with living venomous snakes
in place of hair. You can just imagine her slithering through the towers and
gleaming red water. Reality is, she is the most striking head you’ll
ever turn your head to look back at, amidst all the eerie marble columns
and vaulted ceilings. The very dark and damp spooky atmosphere does help to the
overall scare fest when you walk along the wooden platforms.
Aside
from Medusa’s upside down head, which they say is a bold statement from
Christians about their faith, there are some other mini-activities you can do
when you walk around the area. After available the tickets and paying for the
entrance fee, you can actually go and have your photos taken wearing
traditional Turkish
royalty costumes. Likewise, you can
throw in some coins for luck and even search for the fishes lurking around the
mildly murky waters. Lastly, you can enjoy the cafe just before exiting the
place. Interesting enough, they even used this area before for some concerts and
local events, so you may want to watch out for that too. Now the big question
is: Did Medusa do a good job here when it comes to attracting people, yes?
Address:
Alemdar Mh., Yerebatan Cd. 1/3, 34410 Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey
Opening
Hours: Daily 9:00 A.M. – 5:30 P.M.
Website: http://yerebatan.com/homepage
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