Sarnic Restoran - Cistern Restaurant -
Just beside Saint Sophia, in Istanbul, you will find a Roman cistern as old as Hagia Sophia itself. This extraordinary building, with its massive stone columns and its lofty brick ceiling, stands at the head of a row of guesthouses forming the narrow "Sogukcesme Sokagi” between Topkapı Palace walls and Hagia Sophia
The Turkish Touring and Automobile Association converted the old houses of “Sogukcesme” Street into a row of guesthouses, cleaned out the 1600 years old Roman Cistern which was unfortunately used as a car repair workshop untill recently.
The present floor level reaches to a depth of seven meters but investigations had shown that the six large, massive, single-piece columns descend three meters below this grounded level. The original room has been preserved exactly as it was. The only addition to this beautiful cistern is a fire-place in ancient style.
Aug 27, 2009
Photos: 24
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