Down the street from our Istanbul hotel was the Basilica Cistern, largest of Istanbul's many cisterns. It dates to the 6th century. It's the most beautiful hole in the ground for collecting water that I've seen. Climbing down into the cavernous space felt like entering a sunken temple, except that this one was partially submerged in water and even had some fish in it. Of course the wonderful wikipedia has all you need to know, such as the cistern's size (138 x 65 m or 453 x 213 ft) and the skinny on all those columns (336 marble columns each 9 m or about 30 ft tall).
It was very dark inside the cistern so the photos are pretty noisy.
It was very dark inside the cistern so the photos are pretty noisy.
It was very dark inside the cistern so the photos are pretty noisy.
