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The Basilica Cistern, also known as the "Sunken Palace" or "Yerebatan sarayi" in turkish, was constructed by Justinian in 532 to supply water to the Byzantine Palace primarily. This cathedral-sized cistern is an underground chamber of 143 by 65 metres, capable of holding 80,000 cubic metres of water. The large space is broken up by a forest of 336 marble columns each 9 metres high. The columns are arranged in 12 rows each consisting of 28 columns. The capitals of the columns are mainly Ionic and Corinthian styles, with the exception of a few Doric style with no engravings. According to ancient historians, emperor Constantine had already built a basilica and cistern on the same spot. As the demand for water grew, emperor Justinian enlarged the cisterns and incorporated the basilica. The cistern is surrounded by a firebrick wall with a thickness of 4 meters and coated with a special mortar for waterproofing. The cistern's water was provided from the Belgrade Woods—which lie 19km north of the city—via aqueducts built by the emperor Justinian. The cistern was used as a location for the James Bond film From Russia with Love In real, this place is very dark, but a shutter time of 25 seconds at f8, ISO 200 enlightened the result. Canon 40D, manual white balance, highlight priority mode.