Istanbul - Afternoon Tea in a Watertank
Istanbul, Turkey - September, 2004
There is no shortage of places to drink tea in Istanbul. Tea gardens can be found in the shade of the Galata Tower, outside the Aya Sofya museum and next to the famous Blue Mosque. They are in the gardens of the Topkapi Palace overlooking the Bosphorus and even in a cemetery on the way to the Grand Bazaar but surprisingly the most romantic was in a 6th century underground water storage tank.
Built in AD 532 the entrance to the Basilica Cistern lies just across the road from the Aya Sofya and could be mistaken as a public convenience. Walking down the stairs one can’t help but wonder how an ancient water tank could possibly be a tourist attraction but as you reach the top of the final staircase everything becomes clear and what lies before you is a wonderful surprise.
Resembling a vast wine cellar, with its 4 metre thick firebrick walls and arched ceilings supported by nine metre high columns, it provided the city with water in times of siege. The cistern is 143 metres long and 65 metres wide and once held 80,000 cubic metres of water delivered via aqueducts from a reservoir near the Black Sea. The 336 marble columns are dramatically lit by spotlights that carry your eye up to the combed ceilings and back down to the shallow clear water in which they stand. The air is pleasantly cool after the heat of the sun and invisible drops of water land close by. Orchestral background music completes the slightly eerie atmosphere and by the time we reached the bottom of the stairs goose-bumps had appeared on my arms.
A smiling waiter lit the red tapered candle on our table with his lighter as we ordered Turkish tea for two and a fridge-cold Twix.
Raised wooden walkway leads you through the forest of columns some carved and others not. The columns were taken from ruined buildings and re-cycled to build the cistern explaining their inconsistency. At the back, hidden away in a corner, two of the columns have the carved heads of Medusa at their base, inexplicably one is upside down and the other on its side. The cistern is now one gigantic fish tank with Carp of all different sizes happily swimming under the walkways and darting around the columns in pools of amber coloured light.
The Cistern Café lies at the end of the pathway by the stairs leading to the exit. From the plastic garden furniture, dressed with Turkish table cloths and cushions, you have a magnificent view back across the cistern. Looking straight or diagonally the columns lie in perfect rows and are mirrored in the still water. A smiling waiter lit the red tapered candle on our table with his lighter as we ordered Turkish tea for two and a fridge-cold Twix.
Over our flickering candle the ancient water tank appeared more like an underground Cathedral with its long corridors disappearing into the darkness. Despite the tour groups who were herded quickly past the setting was peaceful and the view hypnotic. The cistern would make a wonderful venue for a drinks or dinner party and with the superb acoustics and taped music it was easy to visualise a quartet of musicians playing in the distance.
The piping hot tea hit the spot and in fact was so good we stayed for another four cups – one on the house – and chatted to the café’s owner. Turkish tea is strong (but not stewed) taken without milk and accompanied by a couple of cubes of sugar, should you need it. Traditionally served in handle-less glass beakers with matching saucer it is definitely worth trying. An hour later we reluctantly said goodbye and headed out into the bright sunshine magically appearing further down the street from where we entered.
Making time for afternoon tea in Istanbul is a must. With so many unusual venues and not a Starbucks* in sight it’s the ideal place to reacquaint yourself with the taste of a good cuppa.
*We eventually spotted a Starbucks on Istiklal Caddesi – a pedestrian shopping street that runs from Tünel Square to Taksim Square on the other side of the Galata Bridge