The Cisterns and Aqueducts of Constantinople

The aqueducts and cisterns of Constantinople made up the most extensive water supply system in ancient history. This video - shot on location in Istanbul - explores the Basilica Cistern, the Binbirdirek Cistern, and the Aqueduct of Valens. For more, check out my travel channel @scenicroutestothepast
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Chapters:
0:00 Aqueduct of Valens
1:00 Cisterns of Constantinople
1:42 Basilica Cistern
3:33 Binbirdirek Cistern

[@QUIRK1019]

Imagine fishing by firelight among creepy old marble capitals on a pitch black and dead silent lake. I'd be terrified to go disturbing its creatures.

[@Dave_Sisson]

It's perfectly safe, I suspect you have been watching too many cheesy B-grade horror films.

[@bobthecomputerguy]

I think you would need firelight during the day in this cistern.

[@blacksage2375]

gollumgollum

[@game_boyd1644]

@@Dave_Sissona 15th Century Anatolian fisherman wouldn't know that though....

[@leof8887]

@@Dave_Sisson perfect use case here for the "you must be fun at parties" remark

[@Arkanic]

Walking into one of these for the first time must be like walking into another world. Fantastic stuff.

[@screetchycello]

It's amazing, I've been there

[@Kaan_is_myname97]

that is exactly how it feels. You Welcome to our country and visit these beautiful places !

[@PRH123]

The basilica cistern is wonderful. It's been used in many films due to its mysterious atmosphere.

[@erawanpencil]

This videos always make me wonder what would be the best way to NOT have your monuments destroyed by the forces of future humanity? It seems like practical structures like aqueducts and cisterns survive best... I really wish the ancients made the stonework in those more beautiful and artistic so we could still see their handiwork. Temples in the middle of cities almost always get earthquaked or torn down for building material.

[@kompo1012]

best way is to not be on anyones mind then evil thoughts nor good thoughts can reach it.

[@patricksnoring4739]

It’s either that or ensure it gets converted into a church

[@S44BBOI]

lots of arches?

[@westrim]

Make it too much of a pain in the ass to move again, and impossible to topple over. Make it a pyramid.

[@johndavidmyself8039]

Which is why My Memorial will also function as a sewage processing station.

[@edgarsnake2857]

I'm happy to say that I visited the Underground cistern. At that time, about 30 years ago, it was a very rarely visited tourist spot. During the time my friend and I were there, we were literally alone!! It was magnificent and very eerie. The cistern was featured in one of the James Bond movies. The place is amazing, particularly if you like massive columns plundered from ancient buildings, which I do. Thanks for another fascinating video.

[@777jones]

I was there in January and skipped it. Major regret currently!!

[@CigarAttache]

Which Bond movie?

[@esoterra8050]

@@CigarAttache kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXSXoKGHfJiJn7s

[@BlaBla-pf8mf]

The cistern was ny favorite place I visited in Constantinople

[@melihy9658]

From Russia With Love @@CigarAttache

[@sinansahin7202]

I was there yesterday.Great structure

[@optimusprinceps3526]

I'll be there in mid December 👍

[@MrSomethingElse]

breath taking! you are fortunate!

[@optimusprinceps3526]

@@MrSomethingElse We have been saving, and were supposed to go before Covid-19, now We are going to visit the Mediterranean 👍

[@PatrickPierceBateman]

It's a shame there was never a chance to study the fish Petrus Gyllius reported seeing when the Basilica Cistern was rediscovered. It would be interesting to know how they adapted to living in the cave-like environment of the cistern.

[@DOLRED]

James Bond movies always seem to show unique locations. So be it for the 1963 movie "From Russia With Love," #2 in the Bond series. One scene shows the Basilica Cistern with Bond and his advisor cruising through it in a canoe. They were headed for the Russian Embassy I believe. One look convinced me then we were being shown a Roman Ruin, but it made no sense since the columns were surrounded by water!! The movie said nothing about the cistern I recall. Thanks for the video.

[@blacksage2375]

I think they call it a sewer?

[@shannonkohl68]

As they are coming down the stairs, Kerim Bey (Bond's "advisor", really the local agent) says it was built by Constantine as a reservoir.

[@Ozymandias1]

It was also featured in the Tom Hanks movie Inferno as the place where some environmental zealots wanted to release a deadly virus to kill off half of humanity to "save the planet".

[@N3ur0m4nc3r]

Goldeneye

[@optimusprinceps3526]

We are going on a Mediterranean cruise in December, spending some time in Istanbul, as well as other ports o call, we shall use your informative videos as a guide in Italy, Greece, and Turkey

[@Sangth123]

That second cistern, given how tall it actually was before the modern floor, really must've been impressive to see back in the day.

[@Trenz0]

That Basilica Cistern is otherworldly fascinating. Absolutely amazing.... As if I needed more reasons to visit Turkey

[@olorin4317]

Oh wow, double columns and marble collars. I never knew they did that.

[@terrenusvitae]

They're wonderfully cool on a hot Istanbul day.

[@PopeLando]

In the last video you looked through a window and from a few arches and long pillars stretching down, I joked that you had found Khazad-Dûm (the City of Moria from Lord of the Rings). But oh my god this is the real deal!

[@rodionromanovich449]

Oh heck yeah! Always been interested in things underground like cisterns, cryptoporticus', hypogeums etc. Arles, France has good examples of all

[@annazakhary949]

You should write a guide book of ancient Rome’s structures that still exist and can be visited, not only in Rome, but in countries like Turkey, Tunisia, Spain, Croatia, etc.

[@Thepriest39]

It's too bad that we don't have a time machine that we can peer into the past to see what stuff looked like in the time of when it was built.

[@spiderh]

You never saw this buildings for this times. They were fresh water depots, and no-one could not see this buildings, only authorized people. They are protected places. When Turks era, Turks never used standing water, for this reason they did not use this depots. A Turk proverb said: "You never aptes in the same water with two times."

[@treasuredstoneworks]

Absolutely breathtaking history. The use of spolia is particularly interesting. Thanks Told in Stone for your eloquent speech and direct and engaging way of sharing this information!

[@milztempelrowski9281]

Fishing on a boat in a newly re-discovered cistern of the romans in the 16th century is certainly on my list if I ever build a time machine.

[@tomholroyd7519]

OMG Mines of Moria 🙂 I once played for 36 hours straight

[@_-.Everlast.-_]

Truly magnificent, and that's just the plumbing lol.

[@kalrandom7387]

MORE PLEASE!!! Really I would love to see more of these sites, maps with travel paths would also be fantastic. So much knowledge had to have been lost to go from structures like that to water supply systems now.

[@H0wlrunn3r]

Thank you so much for all of this.

[@bobliminal2664]

I love the work you do!! Thank you for sharing

[@edcosgrove9730]

Thank you. Fascinating as ever... They really remind me of the Mezquita in Cordoba.

[@johnspizziri1919]

You sir, are an absolute treasure. Thank you!!

[@RickLowrance]

Wow. So amazing. Thanks for such a great video.

[@SobekLOTFC]

Keep up the great work, Garrett 👍

[@mynameisforrest]

Great upload, you got the best content on all of youtube! Peace

[@CarthagoMike]

What a beautiful shots

[@dj-kq4fz]

Thanks! Very enjoyable.

[@alexanderurbanite1880]

ahhh i always wondered about this teardrop column, thanks so much for covering it!

[@hasanabireactionsclips]

So cool this was an awesome video to watch today

[@alexkalish8288]

Great job and explanation. I have been in the cistern decades ago - Amazing engineering .

[@elaztec.aztecca]

Fascinating stuff thank you for sharing with us!!

[@peterhutley4254]

Absolutely wonderful. Constantinople must have been an amazing city at its height.

[@josephtrahan8045]

Amazing awesome. Simply the best! Not to mention interesting

[@Nagstersept109868]

Good stuff, thanks.

[@kidmohair8151]

these are fascinating structures. one of the defences of Constantinople, along with its walls.

[@paleobuzz]

thank you for staying true to live narration and not giving in to botvoice software. You have a pleasant and distinctive voice that meshes well with the content.

[@robbabcock_]

Fascinating stuff!

[@gaius_enceladus]

*Wonderful* architecture! Functional, designed to last and beautiful too!

[@benda2483]

Hey Garret, the new forehead fables podcast was great, you're always a awesome guest

[@tinderbox218]

This is fantastic

[@12TribesUnite]

This is an AWESOME PLACE! GREAT VIDEO!

[@Greensiteofhell]

Very cool stuff!

[@brute9867]

Absolutely incredible

[@user-rl3iv2jk9q]

Fascinating , and unknown to me . Very enlightening in terms of ancient water management benefitting a civilized and commerce-inflated population .

[@superdivemaster]

Excellent Video ...

[@theolewell7535]

thank you, too. interesting material.

[@bartolomeothesatyr]

I have a photo of the Basilica Cistern in my Wallpapers folder, but the photo doesn't provide much in the way of a sense of scale. It's very cool to be able to see video of the place with people walking around it so I can see how tall those columns actually are!

[@AhJodie]

Brilliant and beautiful intelligent structures! I had dreams of these long before I knew they existed, they were so intense that I still remember, perhaps 40 years ago. In my dreams, there was more elaborate decorations and people were walking like here and other places.

[@n990]

Amazing!

[@JuniperJadePR]

I wanna go visit them now -they're just so impressive to look at!

[@Chris.Davies]

2:00 - The inspiration for countless films, TV shows, and video games.

[@calebdoner]

Fascinating and impressive! I never dreamed these existed!

[@thislittlelightofmine8776]

That was awesome, never seen anything like that!

[@andrewlowder7739]

Fascinating!

[@shinola228]

Interesting video. Would have been interesting to see what sits above it and how they manage to keep it dry. Anyway thanks for posting this.

[@caiuspostumiusturrinus1024]

This is so freaking cool 😎😎 you gotta go back soon!!

[@theletterw3875]

I got to visit these during my stay, though most of it was closed for renovation when i was there. In beshiktas where i stayed, the further up the hill you got, the more aqueducts and waterway ruins dotted the busy metropolitan streets around you, its amazing. I wish i had learned the language so i could have been a better resident.

[@juniorjames7076]

Wow, you stayed in an amazing neighborhood (my favorite actually) in Istanbul!! I taught English to university students in Turkey from 2013 to 2018 and I spent many nights with friends bar hopping in Besiktas district, plus the Naval Museum and the BJK football stadium is nearby! Great memories.

[@seththebeatmxchine]

Wow i really really liked this one. Idk what did it for me. Maybe the background noise was such a bice touch? Excellent shots of the columns? I love old columns maybe that? Your voice sounded better in this one too imo, more refined, more confident. Idk i just loved the aesthetic and editing and voiceover, everything, great job in this one. Wish it was a little longer just because i love columns so much.

[@goldgeologist5320]

Dry impressive engineering and construction!

[@tomwahl7838]

Fascinating.

[@XXfea]

So great 😮

[@sarahmiller5632]

So interesting!

[@Wilsonrre]

I raise a goblet of Valensin festooned stem to ur voiceover capture when braving the traffic din, or the audio editor's art. 200 Roman active or ruins still surviving in all the earthquake activity!

[@jakealden2517]

Thanks for another great video. Just wondering why they would have columns with such detail an ornamentation at the base if they were going to be under water? Thanks.

[@toldinstone]

It seems like a waste, doesn't it? Apparently, Justinian's architects had access to quite a few elaborate columns from demolished buildings, and using them - even in a place where they would never be seen - was more economical that carving new ones.

[@joncohen6059]

Wow. I work for the public works in my city and we have underground reservoirs constructed in a very similar fashion from the early 20th century. Amazing how the basic engineering has not changed in 2000 years.

[@sjoerdjuxta]

beautiful place

[@baddudecornpop7328]

“Mines of Moria” vibe indeed!

[@Dalex1910]

Could you do a video about the renowned sewage system of byzantium ?

[@xavierpaquin]

Awesome

[@1Kent]

I think one of those Dan Brown novels was filmed there.

[@Fdeubcfhbbjhfd]

Cool!

[@richymind]

There is a really cool restaurant in there as well.

[@josephphoenix1376]

Saw them on James Bond From Russia with Love...

[@wernervoss6357]

I was just there a month ago.

[@garlicbreathandfarts]

I appreciate you appreciating this part of the world.

[@Blackadder75]

Which one was used in the James Bond movie ?

[@jamest2401]

It’s funny, the lighting and I guess camera tricks in 'Inferno', made the Basilica Cistern seem much larger.

[@transvestosaurus878]

_And they call it a cistern, a cistern!_

[@marusamusapusa]

Была в Цистернах в прошлую среду 😍🤩👍

[@Prosper661]

Teeming with fish? What were they feeding on?

[@guyfawkesuThe1]

So the Basilica Cistern was the one pictures in the Bond movie "From Russia with Love"?

[@abialo2010]

yeah but how did they build that? by hand? they dug down that deep then moved massive pillars? they were able to make those brick arches? i cant wrap my head around it

[@spiderh]

They were not deep. This ground rose in the time. They builded like a normal building.

[@Fabermain]

I just finishe listning to insane emperors on auible. i couldnt review it But 5 out of 5 stars from me. The monitary and mining chapters, was great as well as the last 3ed of the book was right in my alley tho i thought there was some Egyptian writing about atlantis that was left missing. like where the greeks got them from. i believe it was solon or something like that who gave the myhts to plato.

[@pinchevulpes]

Serpico thought he was so slick trying to trap Guts in here 😂

[@user-hu6pk3zs3i]

What's on top of the cisterns though?

[@Blumetric7]

You’d like Assassin’s Creed revelations. Tons of this in game underground and above ground

[@whoopinyou]

So glad you did a video in Istanbul! It’s an amazing city, those cisterns are incredible.

[@Edidan_64]

Amen ❤

[@danielating1316]

Why did the various armies who besieged Byzantine Constantinople over the centuries not attack its aqueducts and water system? Or did they?

[@yertnert2624]

Constantinople is a beautiful city

[@Calatriste54]

Bring back the Byzantine Church in Asia Minor..

[@timmillan6701]

I would pay to see it

[@hakimhakimi-jj3rb]

question bete peut etre. est ce que les byzantins avaitent besoin de construire ces arcades pour transporter l eau d un point eleve A a un autre point plus bas z. ou alors esc qu il relevait l eau de divers points intermediaires C E F par un procede genial. It might be a silly question, but: Did the Byzantines need to construct these aqueducts to transport water from a higher point A to a lower point Z? Or did they elevate water from various intermediate points C, E, F by some ingenious method?

[@GrayShark09]

What is the volume of these cisterns in comparison to the volume of Hagia Sophia?

[@bencordell1965]

It's just like a mini mall

[@explosivehotdogs]

No doubt influenced the design of Labyrinth Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog games

[@fajile5109]

What if we built cisterns in strip mines? Use the body of water to slowly detoxify the soil and land.