Basilica Cistern
The Basilica Cistern, or Cisterna Basilica, is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul, Turkey. The cistern, located 150 metres southwest of the Hagia Sophia on the historical peninsula of Sarayburnu, was built in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian I.| Tap on a place to explore it |
Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Opening hours: 9:00 AM—7:00 PM
- Email: info@yerebatan.com
- Type: Tourist attraction
- Description: cistern of Byzantine Constantinople
- Also known as: “Basilica Cistern (Exit)”
- Address: Yerebatan Caddesi 1, Istanbul, Fatih, 34110
- Wheelchair access: no
Places of Interest Nearby
Highlights include Hagia Sophia and Hippodrome of Constantinople.
Hagia Sophia
Mosque
Photo: Myrabella, Public domain.
Hagia Sophia, officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, is a mosque and former museum and church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. Hagia Sophia is situated 170 metres east of Basilica Cistern.
Hippodrome of Constantinople
Photo: Antoine-François Andréossy, Public domain.
The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square in Istanbul, Turkey, known as Sultanahmet Square.
Topkapı Palace
Photo: Uspn, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The Topkapı Palace or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856, it served as the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire, and was the main residence of its sultans. Topkapı Palace is situated 710 metres northeast of Basilica Cistern.
Places in the Area
Nearby places include Mollafenari and Beyazıt.
Mollafenari
Suburb
Photo: Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Mollafenari is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Fatih, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 99. It is on the European side of Istanbul.
Eminönü
Quarter
Photo: HALUK COMERTEL, CC BY 3.0.
Eminönü, historically known as Pérama, is a predominantly commercial waterfront area of Istanbul within the Fatih district near the confluence of the Golden Horn with the southern entrance of the Bosphorus strait and the Sea of Marmara.
Basilica Cistern
- Categories: palace, ancient Roman cistern, architectural structure, tourism, and historic site
- Location: Historical Peninsula, Istanbul, Turkey, Middle East, Asia
- View on OpenStreetMap
Latitude
41.0084° or 41° 0′ 30″ northLongitude
28.97792° or 28° 58′ 41″ eastElevation
42 metres (138 feet)Open location code
8GHC2X5H+95OpenStreetMap ID
node 11006008339OpenStreetMap feature
historic=cisternOpenStreetMap feature
tourism=attractionOpenStreetMap attribute
wheelchair=no
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikipedia.
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Satellite Map
Discover Basilica Cistern from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
In Other Languages
From Arabic to Uzbek—“Basilica Cistern” goes by many names.
- Arabic: “خزان البازيليك الأرضي”
- Arabic: “صهريج البازيليك”
- Armenian: “Ցիստեռնա բազիլիկա”
- Azerbaijani: “Bazilika sisterni”
- Basque: “Basilika uhaska”
- Basque: “Basilika zisterna”
- Basque: “Yerebatan Sarnıcı”
- Basque: “Yerebatan”
- Bengali: “ব্যাসিলিকা সিস্টার্ন”
- Bulgarian: “Базиликална цистерна”
- Bulgarian: “Йеребатан сарнъджъ”
- Catalan: “cisterna Basílica”
- Catalan: “cisterna de la Basílica”
- Catalan: “Cisterna de la Basílica”
- Catalan: “Yerebatan Sarnıcı”
- Chinese: “地下水宫”
- Chinese: “地下水宫殿”
- Chinese: “地下水宮殿”
- Croatian: “Cisterna Bazilike”
- Croatian: “Yerebatan Sarnıcı”
- Czech: “Bazilika Cisterna”
- Dutch: “Basilica Cisterne”
- Dutch: “Yerebatan Cisterne”
- Dutch: “Yerebatan Paleis”
- Dutch: “Yerebatan”
- Finnish: “Basilica Cistern”
- Finnish: “Yerebatan Sarayı”
- French: “Citerne Basilique”
- French: “Yerebatan Sarayı”
- German: “Cisterna Basilica”
- German: “Versunkener Palast”
- German: “Yerebatan Sarayi”
- German: “Yerebatan Sarnıcı”
- German: “Yerebatan Sarnıçı”
- German: “Yerebatan-Zisterne”
- Greek: “Βασιλική Κινστέρνα”
- Greek: “Βασιλική Κιστέρνα”
- Hebrew: “ירבאטאן”
- Hungarian: “Elsüllyedt Palota”
- Italian: “Basilica Cisterna”
- Italian: “Cisterna Basilica”
- Italian: “Yerebatan Sarayı”
- Italian: “Yerebatan Sarnıcı”
- Japanese: “イスタンブールの地下宮殿”
- Japanese: “イスタンブル地下宮殿”
- Kazakh: “Базилика цистернасы”
- Korean: “바실리카 시스턴”
- Korean: “예레바탄 사라이”
- Korean: “지하 궁전”
- Latvian: “Bazilikas cisterna”
- Macedonian: “Цистерна Базилика”
- Norwegian Nynorsk: “Basilikacisterna”
- Norwegian Nynorsk: “Basilikacisternen”
- Persian: “باسیلیکا سیسترن”
- Polish: “Cysterna Bazyliki”
- Polish: “Yerebatan Sarnıcı”
- Polish: “Zatopiona Cysterna”
- Portuguese: “Cisterna da Basílica”
- Portuguese: “Yerebatan Saray”
- Portuguese: “Yerebatan Sarayı”
- Portuguese: “Yerebatan Sarnıcı”
- Romanian: “Cisterna Basilică”
- Russian: “Еребатан”
- Russian: “Цистерна Базилика”
- Serbian: “Cisterna Bazilika”
- Serbian: “Цистерна Базилика”
- Slovenian: “Cisterna bazilika”
- Spanish: “Cisterna Basilica”
- Spanish: “Cisterna Basílica”
- Spanish: “Cisterna de Basilica”
- Spanish: “Cisterna de Basílica”
- Swedish: “Yerebatan saray”
- Thai: “บาซิลิกาซิสเทิร์น”
- Turkish: “Yeraltı sarnıcı”
- Turkish: “Yerebatan Sarayı”
- Turkish: “Yerebatan Sarnıcı”
- Ukrainian: “Водосховище Базиліка”
- Ukrainian: “Водосховище храму Святої Софії”
- Ukrainian: “Цистерна Базиліка”
- Uzbek: “Bazilika sardobasi”
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About Mapcarta. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors and available under the Open Database License". Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikipedia page “Basilica Cistern”. Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.