地下水宮位於距離聖索菲亞大教堂大約一百米，它的入口實在十分不起眼。如果不是有遊客在入口前排隊，真的不知道那就是地下水宮。據說水宮的前身是位於一間教堂下面，由拜占庭皇帝查士丁尼一世在532年暴動後於
537 年改建。
Basilica
Cistern (Turkish – Yerebatan Sarnici “Sunken Cistern”) situates roughly 100
metres from Hagia Sophia. The sign at
the entrance wasn’t that noticeable, if it hadn’t been for tourists queuing at
the entrance, I wouldn’t have known it’s the place. Apparently it really was directly below a basilica. It was rebuilt by Byzantine Emperor Justinian
I in 537 after the riot in 532.
意料之外的入場費 / The unexpected admission fee
我在進聖索菲亞大教堂時買了七十二小時博物館通用票 (85里拉，要去四個博物館以上才合算)，以為這票也包括地下水宮… 全然不知道原來是不包括的。所以需要像所有遊客一樣付十里拉入場費。
I bought
the Museum Pass when I went to Hagia Sophia (it costs 85TL and is valid for 72
hours, will need visiting 4 museums to cover its cost). I thought it covers the Basilica Cistern as
well… I had no idea it wasn’t the case. Therefore, I had to pay 10TL to get in like every other tourist.
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| 十里拉的入門票 / The 10 Lira ticket |
十萬噸的儲水池和三百三十六條柱 / The 100,000 ton water tank and 336
columns
地下水宮是一個太約138米長，64米闊的地下空間，由336條大理石柱子支撐著，可容納十萬噸水。當然，現在只有幾尺深的水來告訴遊客它曾經的用途。
The
cistern is an underground space roughly 138 metres long, 64 metres wide,
supported by 336 marble stone columns, and has a capacity to hold 100,000 tons
of water. Of course, nowadays there are
only a few feet of water to show tourists what it used to be like.
那336條柱子分作十二排，每排二十八條，據說大部份的柱子是由其他破舊的宅子回收來的。有兩條特別的柱子位於水宮最內裹的地區，有一個倒轉和一個打側的美杜莎頭像在柱子的底部。對於美杜莎頭像出現的原因和它們的方向（倒轉和打側），眾說紛紛，但都一致認為它們是回收而來, 而它們的方向是人為的，但為什麼就沒有人知道。
The 336
columns are divided by 12 rows, each row has 28 columns, and apparently most of
them were recycled from ruins of older buildings. There are 2 interesting columns in the
innermost area of the cistern, it’s because they both have a Medusa’s head at
their bases, one of them is upside down, and the other one is on its side. It’s commonly accepted they were placed that
way deliberately, but no one seems to know why.
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一排排的柱子 / Rows and Rows of columns
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| 為什麼人們每逢水池都要投硬幣？ / Why do people toss coins into just about any pool? |
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| 倒轉的美杜莎頭像 / The upside down Medusa’s head |
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| 打側的美杜莎頭像 / The Medusa’s head on its side |
對傻瓜相機的終極考驗 / The ultimate challenge for my point-and-shoot
camera
地下水宮，故名思義，是在地底。那裹沒有光，自然是陰陰暗暗的，對拿傻瓜相機的我來說，這不是一個理想的拍照環境。所以我差不多把我那個傻瓜機有關暗室攝影的設定都試全了，算是上了一堂自學的攝影課… 最後發現除了相機以外，我連一些攝影常識都欠缺…
The
cistern is an underground environment, there’s no natural light it is therefore
very dark. It’s a disaster to someone
like me who arms with a point-and-shoot camera.
It took me some time to try out most of my camera’s low light related
setting; I guess it can count as a self-taught photography lesson… I found at the end, not just the camera, I
also lack even the basic of photography knowledge…
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| 當日的第一張作品 / The first photo there that day |
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| 幾次嘗試之後的作品 / A later photo at the same spot |
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| 當日我最滿意的一張作品 / The photo I like most |
