https://www.npr.org/2021/07/23/1016814868/beneath-istanbul-archaeologists-explore-an-ancient-citys-byzantine-basements

Accessibility links

  * Skip to main content
  * Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

  * Open Navigation Menu
  * NPR logo
  * NPR 50 years logo NPR 50 years logo
  * 
  * 
  * NPR Shop
  * 

Close Navigation Menu

  * Home
  * News Expand/collapse submenu for News
      + National
      + World
      + Politics
      + Business
      + Health
      + Science
      + Technology
      + Race & Culture
  * Arts & Life Expand/collapse submenu for Arts & Life
      + Books
      + Movies
      + Television
      + Pop Culture
      + Food
      + Art & Design
      + Performing Arts
      + Life Kit
  * Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music
      + #NowPlaying
      + Tiny Desk
      + All Songs Considered
      + Music News
      + Music Features
      + Live Sessions
  * Shows & Podcasts Expand/collapse submenu for Shows & Podcasts
    Daily
      + [morning-ed] Morning Edition
      + [we_otheren] Weekend Edition Saturday
      + [we_otheren] Weekend Edition Sunday
      + [all-things] All Things Considered
      + [fresh-air] Fresh Air
      + [up-first] Up First
    Featured
      + [no-comprom] No Compromise
      + [updatedoow] On Our Watch
      + [nprthrough] Throughline
      + [rt_homefro] Rough Translation
      + More Shows & Podcasts
  * Search
  * 
  * NPR Shop

  * NPR Music NPR Music
  * #NowPlaying
  * Tiny Desk
  * All Songs Considered
  * Music News
  * Music Features
  * Live Sessions

  * About NPR
  * Diversity
  * Organization
  * Support
  * Careers
  * Connect
  * Press
  * Ethics

Beneath Istanbul, Archaeologists Explore An Ancient City's Byzantine
Basements Below the surface of the sprawling, modern metropolis is a
different world. Archaeologists are gaining insights into the city's
ancient past by examining the basements of ordinary buildings.
[007-histor]
Special Series

Wish You Were Here

A journey to some of the captivating places that offer insights into
the countries NPR covers.

Beneath Istanbul, Archaeologists Explore An Ancient City's Byzantine
Basements

July 23, 20214:11 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered

Durrie Bouscaren

Beneath Istanbul, Archaeologists Explore An Ancient City's Byzantine
Basements

Listen * 5:47 5:47
Toggle more options

  * Download
  * Embed
    Embed [<iframe src="https:/] <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/
    player/embed/1016814868/1019892742" width="100%" height="290"
    frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  * Transcript

[nt-202106-]
Enlarge this image

Archaeologist Ferudun Ozgumus stands in what is believed to be a
Byzantine-era substructure in Istanbul. Nicole Tung/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Nicole Tung/NPR

Archaeologist Ferudun Ozgumus stands in what is believed to be a
Byzantine-era substructure in Istanbul.

Nicole Tung/NPR

The winding streets of old Istanbul are an overlapping cacophony of
seagulls, ship horns and vendors of colorful fresh fruit. Shady fig
trees cluster near crumbling Byzantine walls and sweeping Ottoman
palaces, remnants of the empires that conquered and lost this
strategic point on the Bosporus Strait, which formed the seat of the
Eastern Roman Empire.

Underneath it all is an ancient world that's almost invisible, unless
you know where to look.

"Can you imagine my excitement when I saw this for the first time?"
exclaims archaeologist Ferudun Ozgumus, as he leads the way down a
rickety wooden staircase into a cavernous structure deep beneath a
carpet shop. "It was full of debris as far as that corner of the
arch," he says, pointing across the space to a point 15 feet
overhead. "We were crawling!"

For more than 20 years, Ozgumus has knocked on the doors of
Istanbul's oldest neighborhoods and asked to see the basement. At 64,
the Istanbul University professor is one of the first archaeologists
in Turkey devoted to studying the city's underground spaces. He has
identified more than 300 sites, and he knows there are hundreds more.

[byzantineb]
Enlarge this image

Left: Condensation can be seen on the stone walls in a section of a
Byzantine substructure in Istanbul. Right: An archway in a section of
a Byzantine substructure excavated by the owner of a carpet shop.
Nicole Tung for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Nicole Tung for NPR

Left: Condensation can be seen on the stone walls in a section of a
Byzantine substructure in Istanbul. Right: An archway in a section of
a Byzantine substructure excavated by the owner of a carpet shop.

Nicole Tung for NPR

As soon as you step inside the corridor of the carpet shop basement,
the temperature drops. Arches, at least 20 feet high, are evenly
spaced through the structure. Water drips from the ceiling, and as
you look up, you see swirls of bricks -- thin and rust-colored,
alternating with thick stripes of mortar.

"The thickness of the bricks, the thickness of the mortar between the
bricks and the color all tell me the date of the structure," Ozgumus
explains. "You can see this arch, it's hewn stones, cut stones. This
arch is older. I'm sure that this is from the 2nd century A.D."

This particular site, Ozgumus believes, may be related to a sprawling
palace built by Constantine the Great, the 4th century Roman emperor
and founder of ancient Constantinople. But it's hard to know for
sure. Many Byzantine-era buildings that are mentioned in archival
documents have been lost to history, such as Constantine's famous
palace reception hall. No one has ever found it.

"We have a lot of literary sources coming from the late-Roman time,
but archaeological data doesn't match," Ozgumus says.

[nt-202106-]
Enlarge this image

Ferudun Ozgumus (left) walks through a carpet shop above a basement
containing Byzantine-era ruins. Nicole Tung for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Nicole Tung for NPR

Ferudun Ozgumus (left) walks through a carpet shop above a basement
containing Byzantine-era ruins.

Nicole Tung for NPR

Ozgumus' working theory, based on the bricks and the shop's location,
is that this structure may have been a storage basement underneath
that palace reception hall. But this idea can only be confirmed by
additional excavations.

"It's like another world, another city"

Throughout Istanbul, there are clues to how residents of the
Byzantine capital lived, worked in and built their city. These blend
in with the current surroundings: The ruins of an ancient Roman
bathhouse frame the boiler room of a modern office building. A 6th
century cistern with blinding-white columns serves as a jewelers'
workshop, with machinery to etch out silver necklaces and rings.
("The ventilation isn't great," says the owner, "but it stays warm in
the winter and cool in the summer.") And the shell of a small church
-- reachable by ladder -- sits beneath the basement of a hookah bar.

After Ozgumus completed a 13-year archeological survey of Istanbul's
historic peninsula in 2010, younger scholars have continued his work,
adding hundreds of sites to the public record.

[byzantineb]
Enlarge this image

Left: Remnants of pottery and glass are seen among restored
Byzantine-era ruins in a basement below a carpet shop. Right: Ozgumus
stands in a substructure with mason work he believes dates back to
the 4th to 6th centuries. Due to its location and layout, he suggests
it may have been a substructure that was part of the palace complex
built by Constantine the Great. Nicole Tung for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Nicole Tung for NPR

Left: Remnants of pottery and glass are seen among restored
Byzantine-era ruins in a basement below a carpet shop. Right: Ozgumus
stands in a substructure with mason work he believes dates back to
the 4th to 6th centuries. Due to its location and layout, he suggests
it may have been a substructure that was part of the palace complex
built by Constantine the Great.

Nicole Tung for NPR

These sites form the basis of a small but growing line of underground
tours, in which visitors can navigate narrow passages to see ancient
brickwork, cisterns and frescoes from long-forgotten churches.

"There's no easy access to underground structures. They're privately
owned, and you need a network," said Yasin Karabacak, an author and
tour guide who shares his finds on social media as the "Hidden Face
of Istanbul."

"Everyone can go to the Hagia Sophia. But when you open a door to the
underground... you feel special, like it's only for you," Karabacak
says. "It's like another world, another city."

[nt-202106-]
Enlarge this image

A former cistern built in the 6th century is now used as a jewelry
workshop, where artisans work amid Byzantine-era columns. Nicole Tung
for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Nicole Tung for NPR

A former cistern built in the 6th century is now used as a jewelry
workshop, where artisans work amid Byzantine-era columns.

Nicole Tung for NPR

The tunnels beneath Istanbul aren't all mysterious

There is no shortage of mythology surrounding Istanbul's underground
world, said to be full of secret tunnels. It's believed that an
emperor had secret tunnels built from his palace to both the Hagia
Sophia and the Hippodrome (now Sultanahmet Square) so that he and his
entourage could appear in public without entering the street.

When Christian crusaders sacked Constantinople during the Fourth
Crusade in 1204, several artifacts from the Hagia Sophia went
missing. It would be logical that the church's monks could have
hidden Christian relics in these secret tunnels, if they existed. But
they have never been found.

Some tunnels -- like those for the cleaning crews in the Ottoman-built
aqueducts -- simply served mundane purposes, Karabacak says.

"So not all tunnels are secret or have a secret function. They have a
very basic function like cleaning, maintenance," he says.

[nt-202106-]
Enlarge this image

Ozgumus gets help from shopkeepers as he tracks down the owner of a
wholesale storage space that was formerly part of a 6th century
substructure. Nicole Tung for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Nicole Tung for NPR

Ozgumus gets help from shopkeepers as he tracks down the owner of a
wholesale storage space that was formerly part of a 6th century
substructure.

Nicole Tung for NPR

Istanbul's Byzantine basement surfeit survives in part thanks to a
1980s cultural heritage code that allows people who find something
ancient on their property to keep it, without worrying that the
government will seize it.

"Thanks to this new law, a lot of historical things were protected by
the locals in Istanbul," Ozgumus says. "Before, they were destroying
it."

For some, the Roman ruins have attracted tourists and been a boon.
The owner of one carpet shop, finding a cistern underneath it,
converted the site into a small museum devoted to Constantinople's
ancient Hippodrome. Another built his shop's foundation around a
fallen column simply because it was too heavy to move.

Others still fear losing their property or having renovations delayed
by historical surveys. Sometimes construction can be held up because
of significant archeological finds. So they keep their property's
ancient sites hidden, Ozgumus says.

Byzantine marvels include an earthquake-proof water storage system

Byzantine stonemasons were experts at building underground. They
created an extensive system of cisterns to store water pulled in
through aqueducts, and large basements under public buildings to
provide temperature-controlled storage.

[nt-202106-]
Enlarge this image

A courier carts goods through the busy commercial district near
Beyazit Square -- formerly the Forum of Theodosius, built by the Roman
emperor Constantine the Great. Nicole Tung for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Nicole Tung for NPR

A courier carts goods through the busy commercial district near
Beyazit Square -- formerly the Forum of Theodosius, built by the Roman
emperor Constantine the Great.

Nicole Tung for NPR

Kerim Altug, an archaeologist and architectural historian who works
with the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, noticed that the
cisterns were built with techniques that helped the city's water
supply withstand earthquakes.

"The model consists of four columns, each connected with arches. Each
square bay creates a cistern. And each is connected to another by
wooden tie beams," Altug said. "It moves uniformly during the
earthquake and never collapses."

Altug has mapped the location of 158 Byzantine cisterns, and believes
there were thousands in ancient Constantinople.

"We don't know where we are on this work, because there are many
other cisterns waiting to be discovered," Altug said. "There are no
systematic archeological excavations. Most are rescue excavations for
construction projects."

[nt-202106-]
Enlarge this image

Ozgumus stands in a former cistern built in the 6th century, now the
site of a jewelry workshop. Nicole Tung for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Nicole Tung for NPR

Ozgumus stands in a former cistern built in the 6th century, now the
site of a jewelry workshop.

Nicole Tung for NPR

When the Ottomans arrived, it made sense for then to build over and
reuse Byzantine structures, says historian Arzu Ulas, rather than
demolishing them and starting from scratch.

"Materials used in the Byzantine empire were hard to find in
wartime," she says. "It was very costly, and the Byzantine structures
were very strong."

The Ottomans expanded and improved Constantinople's water system.
They sometimes converted cisterns into silk weaving workshops and
storage for fresh produce. Later, some substructures fell into
disrepair or were used for illegal activities such as smuggling, Ulas
says. Under some mosques, she's found corridors filled with water and
animal bones.

[nt-202106-]
Enlarge this image

Scaffolding is attached to 6th century archways surrounded by
garbage. Nicole Tung for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Nicole Tung for NPR

Scaffolding is attached to 6th century archways surrounded by
garbage.

Nicole Tung for NPR

Not everything should be excavated

In Istanbul's Fatih district, a balcony behind a wholesale leather
distributor overlooks stone arches that Ferudun Ozgumus believes were
built as part of a storage basement under a stately home on the Forum
of Theodosius, Constantinople's main square. He believes this is a
6th century structure, based on its column capitals dating to the era
of the Emperor Justinian.

Ozgumus points out two rectangular voids in the stone, the remnants
of an ancient heating system which forced warm air through the belly
of a building and into adjoining rooms.

[nt-202106-]
Enlarge this image

Ozgumus walks through a wholesale storage space located in a basement
in Istanbul. He believes that it was used for housing goods for sale,
and was built underneath the Theodosius Forum. Some stones in the
substructure date to the 2nd century. Nicole Tung for NPR hide
caption

toggle caption
Nicole Tung for NPR

Ozgumus walks through a wholesale storage space located in a basement
in Istanbul. He believes that it was used for housing goods for sale,
and was built underneath the Theodosius Forum. Some stones in the
substructure date to the 2nd century.

Nicole Tung for NPR

These arches have survived centuries of earthquakes, fires and rapid
urban development. Even today, they're still supporting the weight of
the world above.

But in a jarring juxtaposition, 30-foot blue metal stilts are bolted
into the stones, holding up the floor of a prefabricated shopping
mall. A hatch in the mall's floor is used to dump trash -- takeout
boxes, scraps of wood, even a plastic store mannequin -- onto the
Byzantine structure below.

"Look at this. It's a shame on us," Ozgumus says. "In its heyday, it
was beautiful."

It's a good example, he says, of why not all of Istanbul's underworld
should be excavated. Too many archeological excavations were
abandoned after the work was done, leaving sites vulnerable to
developers.

"Those substructures are giving us the layout of the original
Istanbul, from the time of the 4th century," Ozgumus says. "We're in
the heart of the city now."

If you don't have the financing and a plan to preserve it, he
believes, you should keep it in the ground.

Correction July 24, 2021

In a previous version of this story, a quote was incorrectly phrased
to say the corridors under the mosques were in bad shape because of
inattention. The quote was actually referring to documents used to
identify the structures and not the structures themselves. In
addition, the story incorrectly identified Arzu Ulas as a graduate
student at Istanbul University. She pursued her undergraduate degree
at Istanbul University but is currently with Fatih Sultan Mehmet
Vakif University.

  * Istanbul
  * archaeology
  * tourism
  * Turkey

  * Facebook
  * Twitter
  * Flipboard
  * Email

[007-histor]
Special Series

Wish You Were Here

A journey to some of the captivating places that offer insights into
the countries NPR covers.

Read & Listen

  * Home
  * News
  * Arts & Life
  * Music
  * Podcasts
  * Programs

Connect

  * Newsletters
  * Facebook
  * Twitter
  * Instagram
  * Press
  * Contact & Help

About NPR

  * Overview
  * Diversity
  * Ethics
  * Finances
  * Public Editor
  * Corrections

Get Involved

  * Support Public Radio
  * Sponsor NPR
  * NPR Careers
  * NPR Shop
  * NPR Events
  * NPR Extra

  * Terms of Use
  * Privacy
  * Your Privacy Choices
  * Text Only
  *