Yerebatan Sarnc

The Underground Water Palace (Yerebatan Sarnici), located diagonally opposite Hagia Sophia, was built in 532 AD and was an underground reservoir from the Byzantine period to the Ottoman Empire. This 140-meter-long, 70-meter-wide underground pool can store 100,000 tons of water, and there are still fish swimming here. In addition to being an ancient cistern, it was also used as a military ammunition depot.

Today, it can be regarded as one of the most romantic and mysterious spots in Istanbul. A huge palace built with 336 huge stone pillars, each pillar is carved with exquisite patterns. There are two inverted Medusa head stone sculptures in the palace, which were excavated from the 2-meter-thick mud at the bottom when it was rebuilt in 1984. In addition, the long and distant sound of dripping water combined with those strange legends seems to take you into another unpredictable world.