Basilica Cistern Istanbul

Once upon a time there was a very powerful empire created at the juncture of the Bosphorous and Marmara Seas. Over the years, the empire became very rich and the physical embodiment of those riches was expressed through mosques and palaces which were exquisitely decorated with hand painted tiles, delicate carvings, gold leaf and other trappings of …

Rising well rested from a good night's sleep and after polishing off a continental breakfast we headed out to see the cities many sites. We’d met a few fellow travellers at breakfast, David, an Aussie from Melbourne and Bruce and Sheila from Cambridge (they should be Aussies shouldn’t they?) We headed out with David to have a look …

This morning we enjoyed a sleep in and wandered down for breakfast around 10am. Then headed out to explore more of this fascinating city.

First of all we found the Basilica Cistern. This was so, so interesting - it was built in the 6th century to supply water to the nearby palace. I'd read about it in my Lonely Planet and I've reproduced …

10/9 Basilica cistern in the morning followed by a read in the park. Best food is still street food. Kabap and yogurt drink $3. I complain about being bored but I can still walk somewhere new …

This is Jake, reporting on our forth full day in Istanbul.

SO we got an early[er-ish] start and went to go see some istanbul sights we missed previous days.


First, we went to Topkapi palace. on the way, we got bottled water from a street vendor. If you barter and stick to your guns, the going rate tends to be about .5 TL/ .5 …

Today is Thanksgiving, and even though I'm not in the US, I want to start by saying what I’m thankful for. I’m thankful that I had the foresight to put good insoles in my shoes. And my dear friends and family of course of course, but I’m pretty serious about the insoles right now.

So there are 35 people in my tour group. …

Over breakfast we consulted our 'bucket list' for Istanbul, and made our plan.

It was a very hot day so we got going quite early (also to avoid the queues), our first stop the Basilica Cistern.... This huge underground cistern is thought to have been built around 532 AD. After the conquest of the city by the Ottoman Turks, it was forgotten …

Enjoyed breakfast at the hotel this morning, which had some of the best coffee we've had the whole trip. The breakfast spread of interesting: lots of bread and cheese, some hot items, including "pig sausage" and fruit and yogurt. After breakfast, we came back to the room to pack our bags before going out to see the rest of the sights in Sultanahmet …

The gods had smiled upon us in Rome and we'd managed to spend part of a day with Pat, Konrad's mom. She was on a cruise around the Mediterranean and our dates in Rome overlapped with hers. Lucky for us, Istanbul was another stop on the cruise's itinerary!

Her boat was scheduled to pull in at 7:30am, so we rushed down to Kabatas to meet …

J: Sam has taken an interest in currency because she loves buying everything so the night before we left for Turkey she asked what the currency was so she knew what she needed to get. Kara said Turk a Lurks. We cannot stop saying it and laughing about. The degradation of our humor is a reflection of our duration on the road.

We flew from …

... me and tells me to hop in. They got the sirens going and everything and dropped me right outside the entrance to Basilica Cistern, my next destination. I got more than a few curious looks from others as I descended down the stairs into this underground ...

... lively area so I think we will be returning here to find some food tomorrow. Back at the hotel we caught a bit of the US open and planned some things for tomorrow. Its going to be a cultural day as we plan on visiting the mosques and the Basilica ...

... hassle from salespeople. After the Bazaar I paid the 10,000,000 Turkish Lira (~$7) admission fee to go down into the Basilica Cistern. It's a huge underground water storage tank from the 6th century that's supported by hundreds of columns, and the place ...

... almost vertical) when we literally stumbled across one of the main sights that Jess had earmarked to see - the Yerabatan Sarnici (or Basilica Cistern). we paid our 10 lira each and although the ticket man initially said we had to pay for Georgie, when I ...

... managed to find a place to stay after midnight close to the Blue Mosque. Getting up early we wanted to visit the Basilica Cistern. This is basically a huge underground chamber the Roman's built as a cistern. It's supported by many columns and is ...

... . We stayed in the old part of town where all the major historical monuments are, including the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, Basilica Cistern, and the Topkapi Palace: Blue Mosque - This very grand-looking mosque was built in the early 1600s and is still ...

... . Following the bath? Jelly. Absolutely. The most amazing sight that I've visited in my last days in Istanbul has been the basilica cistern. Built in roman times, the rugged columns and smooth arches of the cistern reflect hauntingly off the ...

... be good' was all I could say to the ticket seller. Even though it is a little expensive I wasn't to be disappointed. The Basilica Cistern adjacent to Aya Sofia and under the grand arch that all distances in the Eastern Empire used to be measured from has ...

... the scaffold looks like its roots are growing deeper !!! Will it ever be removed ???   We followed the crowds over to the Basilica Cistern, Ten years since I've been, it was full of tourists, but I did get to see the two Medusa heads. Once out, ...

... Topkaki Palace and the Basilica Cistern.  It was so nice and cool to go underground to visit the Basilica Cistern as it was really hot and humid in Istanbul.  This Cistern was built in AD532 and it was used to store water for the Great Palace ...