Sultanahmet: The Place Where The Ottoman and Roman Empires Meet-1

Sultanahmet is one of the unique places in Istanbul. What makes it unique is that it embodies the artworks that remained from two big empires at the same time. It is one of the most visited places in both Istanbul and Turkey. In this series, we are going to discover this unique place altogether. Then let’s start 🙂

Basilica Cistern

Many cisterns were built in Byzantine Istanbul. The most famous one of these is Basilica Cistern. The cistern was built in 552 AD by Emperor Justinanus to provide the water needs of the palace.

Basilica Cistern was converted into a museum in 1987. The last part of Hell, the film that is based on Dan Brown’s novel of the same name, takes place here and the story is solved here. If you visit the cistern after watching the movie, your trip can be more exciting 🙂

Million Stone

Million Stone is located in Sultanahmet, next to the Basilica Cistern. It was built in the AC 4th century and placed here. This is the real place of the zero meridians, which we read in geography classes, presumed to pass through Greenwich today and divide the world into east and west.

After the decision of the Washington Meridian Congress in 1884, the zero meridians moved to London, Greenwich. The Million Stone was used to measure the distance of the cities of the Roman Empire to the capital. The phrase all roads lead to Rome comes from here.

Hagia Sophia

To my way of thinking, Hagia Sophia is one of the iconic buildings in Istanbul. There have been three Hagia Sophia all over history. Today’s Hagia Sophia is the third one. The construction of the first Hagia Sophia began in AC 337 during the period of Constantin I and was completed in AC 367 by his son. The building with the wooden roof burned in a riot. The second Hagia Sophia was built-in AC 415 by the emperor Theodosius II. It was damaged in Nika Rebellion. Today’s Hagia Sophia was built between AC 532-537 by the emperor was Justinanus. Its architects were Isidoros and Anthemius.

To be continued 😉