The Cistern of Theodosius is marked by a sleek, modern glass pavilion on Piyer Loti Caddesi that serves as the entrance to the underground chamber. This ancient water reservoir was commissioned by Emperor Theodosius the Second and…
Byzantine Ruins and Cisterns
We walk beneath and around Sultanahmet to find the colossal underground cisterns, ancient palace foundations, and towering racetrack ruins of Roman Constantinople. It is a chance to feel the ancient imperial city that still rests just inches beneath modern Istanbul.
Listen to this tour in the Mira app →Walk it in street view
1. Cistern of Theodosius
2. Binbirdirek Cistern
The Binbirdirek Cistern is distinguished by its forest of two hundred twenty-four columns, each made of two stacked marble shafts joined in the middle by a stone collar. This distinctive design choice was a practical solution for the…
3. Palace of Antiochos
The Palace of Antiochos reveals itself through the remains of a hexagonal hall, a rare survival from the fifth century when Constantinople was the heart of the Byzantine Empire. You can distinguish this site by the ancient, weathered…
4. The Stone of Million
The Stone of Million consists of a solitary, weathered pillar located near the entrance to the Basilica Cistern. This stone fragment represents the remains of a fourth-century monument that functioned as the zero-mile marker for the…
5. Basilica Cistern
The Basilica Cistern is a vast underground chamber featuring three hundred thirty-six marble columns that rise directly from the water. Commissioned by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian the First in the sixth century, this structure was…
6. Sultanahmet Square
Sultanahmet Square is a long, narrow public garden defined by three distinct ancient monuments that rise from its center. Once the Hippodrome of Constantinople, this site was the social and sporting heartbeat of the Byzantine Empire for a…
7. Nakkaş Rug
Nakkaş Rug occupies a four-story gallery on Nakilbent Sokak, but its foundation rests on a sixth-century Byzantine cistern. You can recognize the building by its presence near the Hippodrome, where a descent below street level reveals the…
8. Sphendone Remains
The Sphendone remains are a massive series of stone vaults forming a curved, semicircular retaining wall. This structure once supported the southern end of the Hippodrome of Constantinople, an arena that served as the focal point of…
9. Boukoleon Palace
The Boukoleon Palace is recognizable by the series of three large, marble-framed windows set high into a crumbling stone facade that faces the Sea of Marmara. Once a primary imperial residence, this palace was built directly into the…