The
Cistern of the Hebdomon
(
Greek
:
κινστ?ρνη το? ?βδομου
), known in
Turkish
as
Fildamı Sarnıcı
("Cistern of the elephant's stable"),
[1]
is a
Byzantine
open sky water reservoir built in the quarter of the
Hebdomon
(today's
Bakırkoy
), an outskirt of
Constantinople
.
[2]
Location
[
edit
]
The cistern is located in
Istanbul
, in the district of
Bakırkoy
, in the
mahalle
of
Osmaniye
, between
Fildamı Arkası
and
Coban ce?me Sokak
, to the northwest of the
Veli Efendi
horse race track. Topographically, it lies about 2 km west of the
Golden Gate
of the
Walls of Constantinople
, in the western part of a small valley – now completely built up – which runs southwards to the
Marmara sea
.
[2]
History
[
edit
]
The date of construction of this cistern, which lay in the outskirts of the Hebdomon (
Greek
:
?βδομον
, "the Seventh", so called because of its location seven
Roman miles
from the
Milion
, the mile-marker monument of Constantinople),
[3]
is uncertain, but can be placed from the fifth-sixth centuries to the eighth century.
[1]
[2]
[4]
The size of the bricks suggests as a
post quem
date for its edification the end of Justinian I's reign (ruled 527?65), while the absence of brick stamps is typical of constructions erected after the end of the sixth century.
[4]
Its function was certainly to supply water to the quarter's two imperial palaces bearing the name of
Magnaura
, erected by Emperor
Valens
(r. 364?78), and of
Jucundianae
, (also named
Secundianae
) built by Justinian I. Both palaces lay near the
Marmara
seashore,
[5]
where nowadays the
Atakoy Marina
lies. The cistern was also used to supply water to the troops of the
Thracian
army using the nearby
Field of Mars
, named
Kampos tou Tribounaliou
(
Greek
:
Κ?μπο? το? τριβουναλ?ου
), in
Latin
Campus Tribunalis
. The
Campus
, where several
Emperors
were elected through
acclamation
by the army,
[5]
lay in the valley of
Veli Efendi
, where now Istanbul's horse race track is placed.
[6]
After the
Fall of Constantinople
in 1453, the empty reservoir was used by the
Ottomans
as a stable for the
Sultan
's elephants, whence its Turkish names
Filhane
or
Fildamı
, meaning house or repair of the elephants.
[1]
[2]
[7]
Afterwards, it was used as vegetable garden, becoming one of Istanbul's four
Cukurbostan
("hollow garden") still extant,
[1]
a use that ceased in 1996, when the cistern was acquired by the state and transformed into a concert arena for pop music with a capacity of 12,000 spectators.
[8]
By 2003, it had become clear that the vibrations of the music were damaging the walls and disturbing the horses in the nearby race track, and the concerts ceased.
[8]
Since then, the structure – administered by the
belediye
of Bakırkoy – has been sporadically used to host meetings.
[8]
Description
[
edit
]
The cistern has a rectangular plan with sides 127 metres (417 ft) long and 76 metres (249 ft) wide, and covers an area of about 9,600 square metres (103,000 sq ft).
[1]
[2]
[7]
It is slightly larger than the
Basilica Cistern
, and is the smallest among the four open-air cistern of Constantinople.
[4]
Its average depth is about 11 metres (36 ft) on the inner side, but much less on the outer side, since the cistern, built above ground like all the open-air reservoirs of Constantinople, "sank" in the earth with time, as the level of the soil rose.
[1]
The reservoir could contain about 0.105 million cubic metres (28 million US gallons) of water. Its walls, 4.10 metres (13.5 ft) thick in the northern and southern sides and 7.00 metres (22.97 ft) thick in the eastern and western sides, are still in place.
[1]
They were built using the
Roman
construction technique
opus listatum
, by alternating courses of
bricks
and of stone in a ratio of five to two,
[7]
except near the top, where it is five to four (or five)).
[1]
[7]
The same pattern was also used to build the cisterns
of Aetius
,
of Aspar
and
of Mocius
inside the
walled
city of Costantinople. The outer western wall is buried in the hill, while the inner western wall and the outer eastern wall are reinforced with a series of nineteen semicircular projecting
niches
which create two
buttresses
, necessary to withstand the weight of the hill.
[1]
[4]
Two stairways, today partially destroyed, and used to enter the mains, are built by the north and south side.
[1]
Another interesting feature of the cistern is its
water tower
(
Latin
:
Castellum aquae
), built on the outer side of the south-western corner. This is a water tank used to stabilize the
hydraulic pressure
of an aqueduct by releasing water when its level drops beyond a specific value.
[4]
The tower has a double shell structure, with a
spiral staircase
in the centre, separated from the outside by a casing containing the water flowing from an inflow placed at the bottom of the tower.
[4]
Several outflow channels distributed the reservoir water in different directions.
[4]
It is unknown whether the cistern, which lies at a low altitude, was supplied with water coming from the nearby springs, and whether this was sufficient to fill it, or whether the water came from an artificial channel from the Thracian hinterland.
[4]
In the same small valley where the cistern lies, and to its west, there are three smaller elliptic open cisterns, aligned from north to south.
[9]
The central one is destroyed, while the other two, still extant, are named
Domuzdamı
("house of the pigs"), since they were used as stables for animals.
[9]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Sources
[
edit
]
- Mamboury, Ernest
(1953).
The Tourists' Istanbul
. Istanbul: Cituri Biraderler Basımevi.
- Janin, Raymond
(1964).
Constantinople Byzantine
(in French). Paris: Institut Francais d'Etudes Byzantines.
- Altun, Feride Imrana (2009).
Istanbul'un 100 Roma, Bizans Eseri
(in Turkish). Istanbul: Istanbul Buyuk?ehir Belediyesi Kultur A.?. Yayınları.
ISBN
978-9944-370-76-9
.
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