The Basilica Cistern
Istanbul
June 21, 2015
Poor, marble Medusa head, condemned to spend the millenia upside down under the busy streets of Istanbul.
My memories of this place from 21 years before were of a quiet, almost secret place, a mystery under the city, where you could walk in near silence, listening to the sound of water dripping. Maybe we were there on a Tuesday morning in October, instead of a Saturday afternoon in June -- or maybe in the subsequent two decades word got out -- but this time was very different, as we negotiated our way through chattering herds of tourists disgorged from busses, now laughing and shouting and taking pictures with selfie sticks.
