The Basilica Cistern: Underground Palace of Constantinople

Beneath the streets of modern Istanbul lies the Basilica Cistern, a vast underground water reservoir built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I in the 6th century. This episode explores how this subterranean marvel, known to the Byzantines as the Basilica Cistern and to the Ottomans as Yerebatan Sarayı, or the Sunken Palace, was constructed to supply water to the Great Palace and the city's growing population. Lucas and Luna discuss the cistern's architectural features, including its 336 marble columns, many recycled from older Roman structures, and the mysterious Medusa head bases that have sparked legends for centuries. They delve into the engineering of the aqueduct system that fed it, the cistern's rediscovery after the Ottoman conquest, and its transformation into a tourist attraction in the 20th century. Along the way, they touch on the role of water in Constantinople's survival through sieges and the legacy of Roman and Byzantine hydraulic engineering.

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