Cistern Art Gallery

Not many people know that you can look at a cistern from the times of Emperor Justinian in Nakilbent Sokak Nr. 13. This building can be visited when you walk down from Sultanahmet Camii to Kücük Aya Sofia or Sokullu Mehmet Paşa Camii. From the basement you walk down a modern steel staircase and end up in another world far away from modern times. The cistern is very well preserved. It has got 18 marble columns which support brick arches, and it belonged to a private palace on the extended grounds of the Great Palace.
The original walls of the cistern provide an ideal background to exhibitions. Sometimes other cultural events (even concerts) take place down there, too.