The students of Istanbul Gelisim University Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences Public Relations and Publicity Department visited the museum known as the Basilica cistern which was built by the Byzantine Empire in order to recognize the history of Istanbul. Şeval TOPÇU and Seray ÖZYILDIRIM, who are on the tour team, emphasized the richness of Ancient Greek and Byzantine culture and said "in this enchanting setting you can take a pleasant stroll through the columns with light music". Our students' experiences with the trip are as follows:
It was easy to reach Sultanahmet by the tram from Cevizlibağ. After getting off the tram, you can reach the museum entrance after a five-minute walk. A crowd welcomes you at the door. After evade the crowd, it is possible to get in with a small price of 5 TL. When you enter, you are greeted by a dimly lit atmosphere and a damp smell. When you enter you can notice that tourists seem to have a great interest to basilica. The Basilica Cistern was built in 542 by the Byzantine Empire in the south of Hagia Sophia. The reason for calling it a basilica was the fact that a basilica had already appeared at the site of the cistern. The cistern has a rectangular structure with a length of 140m and a width of 70m. It has 360 columns and each of these columns has different features. The most interesting part for us is that the cistern has a storage capacity of approximately 100,000 tons of water. Two medusa heads used under the two columns in the northwest corner of the cistern are examples of sculpture from the Roman period. It is interesting to note that the origin of the medusa heads is not known, but has been the subject of legends. There are two kinds of narratives about Medusa. The first one is that the medusa is one of the female monsters in the underworld. According to this narratives, the snake-headed Medusa can turn glimpsers to stone. At that time, Gogana statues were used to protect private places. This is the reason why the medusa was placed in the cistern. According to another narrative, the medusa was a woman with long hair and black eyes. He fell in love with Perseus, the son of Zeus. Meanwhile, Athena was loving Perseus and she was jealousing Medusa. Because of the jealousy Athena turned Medusa's hairs to snake After that Medusa gained a power that turning human into stone who looking to her. According to legend, Perseus managed to defeat many enemies by taking advantage of Medusa's head (he cut her head and used in battle). It is known that during the Byzantine period cistern was used for people and palace’s water needs, during the Ottoman period cistern was used for garden irrigation. If you would like to visit the Basilica Cistern, we would like you to know that you can make a cheerful stroll with a slow music between columns.
