Yerebatan Cistern
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The Yerebatan Cistern or Basilica Cistern is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath Constantinople.
History[edit | edit source]
The cistern, located 150 meters southwest of the Hagia Sophia, was originally a basilica. During the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, it was converted into a water storage facility for the palace complex situated immediately to the east. After the fall of the Latin dynasty and the restoration of the Palaiologi, the cistern fell out of use and was forgotten about by all but a few residents of the city.[1]
In 1257, Niccolò Polo had the first of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Masyaf Keys hidden in the Yerebatan Cistern. Over two centuries later, in 1511, the Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze entered the cistern via a secret passage in the old Polo trading post, which by then had become a bookshop run by Sofia Sartor.[2]
There, Ezio found that the Byzantine Templars had been searching for the Masyaf Key for thirteen months, without success. Stealthily making his way through the Yerebatan Cistern, Ezio recovered the Key, as well as a map to the locations of the other Keys hidden by the Polos.[3]
After retrieving all the Keys and accessing Altaïr's library in Masyaf,[4] Ezio and Sofia returned to Constantinople for a brief stay in June 1512. The couple sold Sofia's bookshop to the Ottoman Assassins, and Ezio also gave them the Keys to hide in the Yerebatan Cistern, in the same place he had found the first Key.[5]
By this point, the cistern's existence had become unknown to Constantinople's general populace, though rumors persisted. It was rediscovered late into Suleiman I's reign by a visiting diplomat, who relayed his findings to the Sultan.[1]
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Yerebatan is a Turkish word meaning "sunken", and the place is also known as Yerebatan Sarayı ("Sunken Palace") and Yerebatan Sarnıcı ("Sunken Cistern").
Gallery[edit | edit source]
-
Concept art of the cistern -
The "Peacock-eyed" column -
Two Byzantine Templars within the cistern
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Assassin's Creed: Revelations (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Revelations novel
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Assassin's Creed: Revelations – Database: Yerebatan Cistern
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Revelations – A Familiar Face
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Revelations – The Yerebatan Cistern
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Revelations – A Homecoming
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Revelations novel
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