Arguably one of the greatest historical sites I saw in Turkey was not something that would typically be thought of as a tourist attraction: a cistern, or more correctly, the Basilica Cistern:
When Constantinople was designated as the Imperial Capital, it was still at a time when Rome built things - which was good news, as the capital, which had great sea access and defensibility, had very poor water sources. Over the years, a number of aqueducts reaching farther and father into the hinterlands were constructed, the longest being the Aqueduct of Valens, which ultimately pulled water from 75 miles away and had almost 450 miles of conduits for the water.
But it is not enough to get the water there; one has to hold it in place until use. Thus, cisterns were built throughout the Imperial Capitol (Byzantium ultimately had 160 of these that have been identified).
The Basilica Cistern was built by the Emperor Justinian I (he of the Nika Revolts and Haghia Sophia fame). The cistern is 453 ft/138 m by 213 ft/65 m supported by 336 columns of 30 ft/9 m high. Total capacity for water is 2.8 million cubic ft/80,000 cubic m.
Wikipedia compares the area - 105,000 sq ft/9,800 sq m - to a cathedral. Having been in some cathedrals, I would say that might be a little underestimated in comparison.
Reportedly 7,000 slaves were used to build this cistern.
To enter the cistern, one takes 52 steps down. The cistern is made with 12 ft/4m firebrick walls, covered with a water resistant mortar.
The cistern was used for hundreds of years but gradually forgotten about by all but local residents, especially after the Ottoman Conquest. A French traveler in the 16th century records a trip in which he was rowed in a boat in the cistern, seeing fish swimming below.
The cistern is now used as a museum and archaeological site. Were I to recommend sites to individuals visiting Turkey, this would be high on the list.
Verrrry interesting TB, the effort put into those columns when they were going to be covered in water, ah man. Those Romans built for the ages.
ReplyDeleteIf you think about it Nylon12, they were just being resource conscious. Takes a lot of time to make a column. Easier to just borrow it from somewhere else.
DeleteAnd yes - 2000 years from now, likely our descendants will not be talking about 20th and 21 century architecture.
I have often wondered how they dealt with disease transmission with the use of these cisterns. I would think there would have been large pandemics among the population that drew water from these cisterns.
ReplyDeleteEd, I think the risk of disease transmission would largely have been on the next end. Upland these were in open aqueducts, but at some point these went into stone or lead pipes to the distribution areas (fountains, for example). Certainly the risk was there, but perhaps overall water usage kept things generally free flowing?
DeleteAmazing what pre-diesel era folks could do. Intelligent use of human labor and real quality engineering. I understand some Roman aqueducts are still in use providing water.
ReplyDeleteNow if I can get an appointment to get my front-end alinement redone after driving on city streets. My rural area does far better.
Michael, it is amazing especially given the fact that in some form or fashion, most of it was essentially handmade.
DeleteFascinating. Really. It would have been interesting to witness the birth of the idea and the beginning planning stages. Also to see it fully functioning. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, I think the time I would have liked to been there the most is in the 1560's, when the French traveler took his boat ride by lantern. That must have been both eerie and overwhelming.
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