Although the lives of humankind play out on the surface of the Earth, for millennia people have explored what lies beneath. Some had a practical reason for venturing underground—quarrying stone for ...

The Basilica Cistern is Istanbul's largest surviving Byzantine cistern and one of its most unique historic sites. Constructed in 532 for Justinian I, this sprawling underground water reservoir ...

Istanbul, located on the shores ... why it is called the "cold window". The Basilica Cistern is one of the largest and ...