Basilica Cistern & Archaeological Museum

Sunday March 23rd, 2014 Istanbul
I published yesterday's blog in 2 different versions since I thought the long version done last night got lost due to internet problems. I found the initial draft after I published a new one so now they're both posted.
After breakfast this morning we moved about 20 meters down the street to the Muhlis Bey, a newly renovated small hotel where a room was arranged for us by the manager of the Med Cezir. Because our flight to Kayseri airport in central Turkey doesn't leave until tomorrow, we stayed an extra day in Istanbul without reserving a room. The Med Cezir was fully booked for tonight but this hotel is very similar and just fine. We'll go back to the Med Cezir for a complimentary breakfast tomorrow morning and our airport shuttle van (5 euros each) will pick us up there.

 While Anita waited in the park, I toured the Basilica Cistern, just across the street from the Aya Sofia. The Romans built this cistern in 532 AD. Water was piped in from 20 km away. The cistern is 140 m long, 70 m wide and the columns holding up the roof are 9 m high. After the Roman empire faded, the cistern was forgotten until it was rediscovered in the 16th century. It was cleaned out in 1985 and opened as a tourist attraction in 1987. Impressive bit of engineering.

 There's only about 1/2 m of water in it now but that's enough for some huge carp.

 Afterward we toured the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. Artifacts have been found proving that people have lived in what is now Turkey for over 400,000 years. The number of exhibits in the museum is overwhelming.

 There are beautiful Greek and Roman era statues.The carving makes it look like this woman is wearing silk. You can see her arm through the fabric, all carved from marble.

 Later, Turkey became famous for its ceramic tile.

 There are artifacts from many of the city states that were in this region.

 There is a big collection of intricately carved sarcophogi (basically big stone coffins).

 From our roof top terrace we can look down on the front door of the 4 Seasons Hotel across the street, formerly Sultanahmet Prison.

Looking down the hill from the hotel roof terrace we can see where the Strait of Bosporus enters the Sea of Marmora. We feel like we've seen what we came to see in Istanbul. Tomorrow we're off to Cappadocia in central Turkey.