The Basilica Cistern, a 1,500-year-old Byzantine underground reservoir in Türkiye’s Istanbul, has been reopened to visitors after two years of repair and consolidation. The cistern, which was made in the Byzantine capital Constantinople, now called Istanbul, was made by Emperor Justinian to resolve people’s drought problems. However, it was shut down after the 10th century because of the expensive maintenance work it required. The cistern was buried with tons of dirt over time and sank into obscurity until it was found in the 18th century. The two massive Medusa heads and the “weeping column” in the underground palace have become some of the focal points for the palace’s 15,000 daily visitors.

“It is truly like an underground forest. Those columns are like trees, and we feel lost in a maze. The fact that it has an atmosphere that isolates us from the world above is what impressed us the most,” Merve Gedik, Istanbul Municipality’s Cultural Heritage Department Project director said.