Nakkaş Sarnıcı
Nakkaş Sarnıcı lies underground in Istanbul as a Byzantine reservoir built under Emperor Justinian I in 532. Its brick walls once supplied water to the Great Palace of Constantinople.
The chamber stretches 140 metres by 70, covering 9,800 square metres beneath a marble-supported ceiling. Three hundred and thirty-six columns rise nine metres high. They stand in twelve rows, reuse stone from ancient buildings, and display Corinthian and Doric forms.
Thick mortar coats the brick walls and allows storage of up to 1,100 tons of water. Two Medusa heads serve as column bases. After 1453, the reservoir fell from use, and a Dutch traveller rediscovered it in the sixteenth century.
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