Thursday, December 10, 2009

Basilica Cistern & Gulhane Park, Istanbul - Day 6 - Part 2

After leaving this post for so long due to schedule overload.
I will now continue with my journey in Istanbul. The last post was about Day 6, part 1 at Tokapi Palace. Now for part 2, after lunch my mom and me went to the Basilica Cistern.

For those of you who are wondering what is a cistern. Well it is a receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Often cisterns are built to catch and store rainwater. The Basilica Cistern is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul.

Going down beneath the earth... Feeling all damp and cold... This is what it looks like...

What a beautiful sight!

And Located in the northwest corner of the cistern, the bases of two columns reuse blocks carved with the visage of Medusa. The origin of the two heads is unknown, though it is thought that the heads were brought to the cistern after being removed from a building of the late Roman period. Tradition has it that the blocks are oriented sideways and inverted in order to negate the power of the Gorgons' gaze.

Beware of the Medusa's head! muahahahha

Later, surfacing from beneath the earth where the warm summer sun shines music greets me.
And nearby there was a few men having a jamming session of traditional music.

Then mom and me walked around and somehow we came to Gulhane Park. The landscape is beautiful. It's like walking into a Disney fairytale.

Florals were everywhere. Mom is definitely enjoying the flowers. I wish Malaysia had such beautiful landscapes in the city.

And this is me signing off for day 6.
Up next the final day of Istanbul... THE GRAND BAZAAR

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