Basilica Cistern

                                                                                   Istanbul, Turkey
                                                                                June, 2015

The Basilica Cistern is a massive, underground water storage facility built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. It is very close to Haghia Sophia and is undeniably the most unusual place I have ever visited. The Basilica Cistern is 105000 square feet in area with 336 marble columns supporting the 30 feet tall brick ceiling. Originally, water was brought in by aqueducts from a forest 19 kilometers away. 


How the Basilica Cistern was discovered: 
It is a fascinating story. After the Ottomans conquest of Constantinople (today's Istanbul), over a period of time, modern water systems got installed and  people forgot about the Basilica Cistern. Around 1544, P. Gyllius, a Dutch traveler researching Byzantine architecture, observed that people were getting water with buckets from well holes near Haghia Sophia. Some were even catching fish out of these holes. He decided to explore this massive under ground well and ended up discovering the Basilica Cistern.

From the entrance, walked down around 50 steps to reach the platform surrounding the Basilica Cistern.
Before these platforms were built, the only way to explore Basilica Cistern was to take boat rides.

Medusa's Head:
An interesting feature of the Basilica Cistern are two Medusa heads at the far end of the cistern. One of the heads is upside down and another is positioned sideways. It is believed these Medusa's heads were placed to guard the Basilica Cistern.

Medusa's Head

In Dan Brown's 2013 book,  Inferno , the climax happens in the Basilica Cistern. The Jame Bond movie, "From Russia With Love" has a scene shot in the Basilica Cistern. Search YouTube for "From Russia With Love Basilica Cistern". :)

Grand Bazaar!!!

                                                                                  Istanbul, Turkey
                                                                                June, 2015

There is only one "Grand Bazaar" and it is in Istanbul. Travel+Leisure magazine tags it as the world's #1 most visited place with 250,000 to 400,000 visitors a day. It has 61 streets and over 4000 shops all inside covered buildings. The granddaddy of all malls, the Grand Bazaar truly lives up to its adjective. It is no doubt a shoppers paradise! The labyrinth of streets and the bargaining reminded me of Chennai's old Moore Market, which unfortunately was lost in a fire in 1985.

The Grand Bazaar spans over the colored areas in this map.
All the shops are inside the buildings that make the Grand Bazaar.
Courtesy: greatistanbul.com

One of the many entrances to the Grand Bazaar.
Built in 1461, it could be called the first indoor shopping mall of the world!

It is not very difficult to get lost inside Grand Bazaar.
We kept one of the shops as our anchor and remembered how many left and right turns we had taken :)

Yummy Turkish Delights !!! (:-P..

Nuts & Dried Fruits. Dried Kiwi was my favorite.

Jewellery, clothes, hand bags, shoes and anything you could think of can be bought in the Grand Bazaar.
Of course, prices are very much negotiable !!!