1
00:00:05,506 --> 00:00:10,012
Walk anywhere in Istanbul,
And you will walk over the past.

2
00:00:10,475 --> 00:00:15,348
Dig anywhere under streets and alleys
discover thousands of years of hidden history.

3
00:00:15,916 --> 00:00:19,063
Most of the old towns
were intensively excavated.

4
00:00:19,607 --> 00:00:23,867
But in Istanbul, archaeologists
they have barely scratched the surface.

5
00:00:25,652 --> 00:00:29,162
In our attempt to peel back the layers
under which the city's past is buried

6
00:00:29,540 --> 00:00:31,957
we don't know what we're going to do.

7
00:00:31,992 --> 00:00:35,261
It's incredible.
It is very impressive.

8
00:00:35,296 --> 00:00:38,920
It's amazing... Here we are
In the underground of Istanbul... in a boat.

9
00:00:39,141 --> 00:00:41,406
There is a whole world
under our feet.

10
00:00:41,441 --> 00:00:44,145
Layers of history were left behind
after the Romanians,

11
00:00:44,180 --> 00:00:46,178
Byzantine and Ottoman.

12
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We will bring it to life�� 
the collapsed civilization of the city

13
00:00:49,107 --> 00:00:51,932
and the Empire will rise from the ashes��,
one more time.

14
00:00:53,051 --> 00:00:56,954
We will peel back the layers of time
to discover the city below...

15
00:00:57,565 --> 00:00:58,365
Istanbul

16
00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:03,303
Translation and adaptation
niki and alex_wishmaster

17
00:01:03,601 --> 00:01:04,666
Underground cities

18
00:01:06,131 --> 00:01:08,858
ISTANBUL
Season 1- Episode 1

19
00:01:10,735 --> 00:01:12,754
It was called Bizan�.

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00:01:12,789 --> 00:01:14,821
New Rome. Constantinople.

21
00:01:15,414 --> 00:01:18,494
This strategic peninsula stretches
from the Sea of Marmara

22
00:01:18,529 --> 00:01:20,121
to the Bosphorus Strait.

23
00:01:20,713 --> 00:01:24,738
It is the only city in the world
which spans two continents.

24
00:01:24,773 --> 00:01:28,575
This first location made it
the perfect place for the Empire to rise,

25
00:01:28,610 --> 00:01:31,489
to collapse
And rise again.

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00:01:34,156 --> 00:01:37,010
I'm Eric Geller.
I am in Istanbul, Turkey.

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Hundreds of years, this time was
the most powerful city in the world.

28
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When you're on top, the only place
towards which you are heading

29
00:01:43,266 --> 00:01:46,023
is down, and down is the place
in which the Empire is located.

30
00:01:46,058 --> 00:01:49,641
Wherever you dig, you will discover evidence
of a failed civilization.

31
00:01:49,676 --> 00:01:53,224
There are water tanks, libraries,
dungeons, hidden tunnels.

32
00:01:53,259 --> 00:01:56,269
There is a whole hour
under our feet.

33
00:01:56,304 --> 00:01:59,418
We can't close
a modern city to excavate it,

34
00:01:59,453 --> 00:02:01,538
but there are other methods
to reach below...

35
00:02:05,328 --> 00:02:09,069
Currently, Istanbul is part of it
from the modern and democratic Republic of Turkey.

36
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The 11 million inhabitants are part
from a cultural mix

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00:02:12,136 --> 00:02:15,471
which remained behind
a fallen empire.

38
00:02:15,506 --> 00:02:18,948
Everywhere you look, the past and the present
they happen.

39
00:02:19,755 --> 00:02:24,170
Taxis passing by Saint Sofia,
a 1,500-year-old Byzantine church.

40
00:02:24,205 --> 00:02:27,987
Couples passing by the walls
thousands of years old of the Roman Empire,

41
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Tour by photographing the Muslim Blue Mosque,
almost 400 years old.

42
00:02:31,805 --> 00:02:35,117
in many cities of the world,
that would be about it.

43
00:02:35,152 --> 00:02:37,849
But in Istanbul,
it's just the beginning.

44
00:02:38,592 --> 00:02:41,561
We will peel back the layers of time,
modern houses,

45
00:02:41,596 --> 00:02:43,227
crowded streets and modern bazaars

46
00:02:44,228 --> 00:02:47,229
to find the hidden history
of the most unusual city in the world.

47
00:02:48,782 --> 00:02:51,915
I don't mean the catacombs
or to some tunnels...

48
00:02:52,714 --> 00:02:57,057
We will walk over entire cities,
stacked like bricks,

49
00:02:57,092 --> 00:02:59,996
every layer of history being buried
one under the other.

50
00:03:02,223 --> 00:03:04,367
The city was founded
in the 7th century AD.

51
00:03:04,640 --> 00:03:06,984
like a small Greek fishing village,
called Byzan�.

52
00:03:07,983 --> 00:03:11,567
200 years later, the village became
part of the huge Roman Empire.

53
00:03:12,129 --> 00:03:14,859
After 330 AD,
was renamed Constantinople,

54
00:03:15,438 --> 00:03:18,360
after Emperor Constantine
He moved his entire capital to the east.

55
00:03:18,395 --> 00:03:20,981
Eastern Roman Empire,

56
00:03:21,016 --> 00:03:23,980
known later
as the Byzantine Empire was born.

57
00:03:24,015 --> 00:03:26,910
For more than 1,000 years,
here Byzantineism flourished.

58
00:03:26,945 --> 00:03:30,238
Then, in 1453, Constantinople
was conquered by the Ottomans

59
00:03:30,273 --> 00:03:32,892
becoming Istanbul.

60
00:03:33,267 --> 00:03:37,548
After almost 500 years, he was born
the modern Republic of Turkey.

61
00:03:39,478 --> 00:03:42,938
For 27 consecutive centuries,
these civilizations,

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00:03:42,973 --> 00:03:46,323
Greek, Romanian and Turkish
they built palaces,

63
00:03:46,358 --> 00:03:48,501
stadiums, public baths, roads.

64
00:03:48,937 --> 00:03:51,187
Each trying to eliminate it
the one before it.

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00:03:51,614 --> 00:03:54,420
Every time the city was destroyed,
the next generation

66
00:03:54,812 --> 00:03:57,066
simply built
above the ruins of the past,

67
00:03:57,529 --> 00:04:00,032
adding your own layer,
and in some cases,

68
00:04:00,248 --> 00:04:03,346
covering the soil layer
by more than 12 meters.

69
00:04:05,165 --> 00:04:06,888
How is this possible?

70
00:04:06,923 --> 00:04:11,186
It practically stretches like an Ottoman mosque
above a Roman palace?

71
00:04:11,925 --> 00:04:15,861
Or an apartment building
having an ancient Roman water tank underneath?

72
00:04:19,667 --> 00:04:22,902
To understand this, we must
let's go back 1,700 years ago,

73
00:04:22,937 --> 00:04:26,115
when Istanbul was the new capital
of the Roman Empire.

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00:04:26,150 --> 00:04:29,294
For centuries, the location
of this time

75
00:04:29,329 --> 00:04:31,494
made him the most wanted
place in the world.

76
00:04:31,869 --> 00:04:34,217
The Romans knew this
And they acted quickly

77
00:04:34,252 --> 00:04:35,967
to defend their new capital.

78
00:04:36,002 --> 00:04:38,848
They built impenetrable walls
around the city, they transformed the ports,

79
00:04:39,197 --> 00:04:41,037
And, probably the most ingenious thing,

80
00:04:41,322 --> 00:04:44,834
they found a way to protect them
the most important resource: drinking water.

81
00:04:45,264 --> 00:04:47,807
And it all started here.

82
00:04:51,314 --> 00:04:54,764
The aqueduct was one of the largest
engineering achievements of the Roman Empire.

83
00:04:55,151 --> 00:04:56,401
beginning in the the fourth,

84
00:04:56,436 --> 00:04:59,496
water system of Constantinople
His journey has begun

85
00:04:59,531 --> 00:05:02,557
from 20 km from the city center
to the woods of Belgrade.

86
00:05:02,592 --> 00:05:04,906
Relying entirely
by the force of gravity,

87
00:05:04,941 --> 00:05:07,994
perfect inclination of the aqueducts
transport ingeniously

88
00:05:08,029 --> 00:05:11,274
a huge amount of water,
along uneven terrain,

89
00:05:11,309 --> 00:05:14,093
until it's safe,
between the city walls.

90
00:05:15,411 --> 00:05:19,268
The water was directed towards one
of the five open water reservoirs.

91
00:05:19,303 --> 00:05:22,586
Here, it self-purifies,
storing minerals

92
00:05:22,621 --> 00:05:25,306
and organic matter,
maintaining the pressure.

93
00:05:25,341 --> 00:05:27,957
After that, the water flows
a way through

94
00:05:27,992 --> 00:05:31,648
an underground tunnel system,
hidden under the streets above.

95
00:05:31,683 --> 00:05:35,270
The final destination is one
among the thousands of underground reservoirs.

96
00:05:35,305 --> 00:05:39,571
Here, it will remain until some
among the citizens of the city will decide

97
00:05:39,606 --> 00:05:42,366
to pump water
through the wells above.

98
00:05:47,036 --> 00:05:51,211
I meet in Sultanahmet square,
with the local historian, Bora Sertbas.

99
00:05:52,911 --> 00:05:56,147
He will show me the biggest water tank
underground from the city.

100
00:05:56,182 --> 00:06:00,258
Many believe that the emperor himself
he used the water from here.

101
00:06:03,104 --> 00:06:06,288
In a minute, he won't come
believe what you will see down here.

102
00:06:06,323 --> 00:06:09,473
It's a completely different life
why did you see above.

103
00:06:12,483 --> 00:06:14,570
It is called the Sunken Reservoir,

104
00:06:14,605 --> 00:06:18,931
but the Turks call it "Yerebatan Sarayi"
or the Sunken Palace.

105
00:06:18,966 --> 00:06:22,257
And that's exactly what it looks like.

106
00:06:24,475 --> 00:06:25,629
This is...

107
00:06:26,519 --> 00:06:28,008
Look at this place!

108
00:06:29,192 --> 00:06:30,494
It is a huge space.

109
00:06:30,529 --> 00:06:33,594
You have no idea that coming here,
from the market��...

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00:06:33,629 --> 00:06:34,185
Yes.

111
00:06:34,481 --> 00:06:35,843
There is a restaurant there...

112
00:06:36,167 --> 00:06:37,938
- Above.
- There is also a park here!

113
00:06:37,973 --> 00:06:39,446
The police station, everything.

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00:06:39,481 --> 00:06:40,908
It's huge!

115
00:06:40,943 --> 00:06:45,323
and we'll see over
9,800 square meters.

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00:06:45,617 --> 00:06:48,118
This is the biggest
reservoir built

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00:06:48,153 --> 00:06:49,885
once by Romanians
in this hour.

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00:06:51,221 --> 00:06:55,547
Emperor Justinian built
this reservoir in the 6th century.

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00:06:55,582 --> 00:06:58,660
He also built
and Saint Sofia (Aya Sofia),

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00:06:58,695 --> 00:07:02,797
And he was the emperor under whom paganism
died, and Christianity flourished.

121
00:07:02,832 --> 00:07:06,900
Under the 43 years of reign, he had
the ambition to restore the Eastern Empire,

122
00:07:07,338 --> 00:07:08,535
to reform the Romanian laws

123
00:07:08,873 --> 00:07:11,339
and to rebuild
most of Constantinople.

124
00:07:11,549 --> 00:07:14,041
Currently, the Basilica Cistern
is one of the biggest

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00:07:14,076 --> 00:07:16,593
existing Roman structures in the world.

126
00:07:16,628 --> 00:07:21,149
It is 140 meters long
and 70 meters wide.

127
00:07:21,184 --> 00:07:24,615
The ceiling is supported
of 336 marble columns,

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00:07:24,858 --> 00:07:26,841
located at a distance�� 
about 5 meters.

129
00:07:28,144 --> 00:07:31,001
The tank was the key
survival of the empire.

130
00:07:31,036 --> 00:07:33,823
Because the city is located
constantly under siege,

131
00:07:33,858 --> 00:07:37,438
the aqueducts that had the role
and natural bridges to the city,

132
00:07:37,473 --> 00:07:39,820
they had to be destroyed
so that it cannot be entered.

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Water stored in pools
help the inhabitants of Constantinople

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to last for months.

135
00:07:45,585 --> 00:07:49,761
After the conquest, in 1453,
when the Ottomans entered the city

136
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no one gave them the information.

137
00:07:52,770 --> 00:07:55,603
So they didn't know where
and what exists.

138
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For this reason, underground reservoirs
they were not discovered for a long time.

139
00:08:00,724 --> 00:08:02,240
But even after their discovery,

140
00:08:02,275 --> 00:08:05,226
the Ottomans did not feel the same way
vulnerable to attacks like the Byzantines,

141
00:08:05,944 --> 00:08:08,129
so they were not based
too much on them.

142
00:08:08,164 --> 00:08:12,593
Instead, the Ottomans preferred
running water, instead of collected water,

143
00:08:12,628 --> 00:08:14,955
which led to the destruction of the pools.

144
00:08:14,990 --> 00:08:18,329
in Turkish culture, the standing waters
are considered dirty.

145
00:08:18,364 --> 00:08:20,101
When the waters are flowing,
these are clean

146
00:08:20,136 --> 00:08:21,598
And we use these.

147
00:08:22,636 --> 00:08:26,416
So the Basilica Cistern was forgotten
below the streets until 1544,

148
00:08:26,451 --> 00:08:28,199
when a Frenchman, Pierre Gilles

149
00:08:28,234 --> 00:08:32,088
became intrigued about it
with an enormous amount of water and fish

150
00:08:32,123 --> 00:08:34,965
which the locals took out
from their own basements.

151
00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,772
It is attributed to Gilles
the rediscovery of the Basilica Cistern,

152
00:08:37,807 --> 00:08:41,484
after being invited to a party
fishing in the basement of an old house.

153
00:08:42,841 --> 00:08:47,864
Currently, the Basilica Cistern is located
more than 8 meters below the modern city.

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00:08:47,899 --> 00:08:52,420
Almost three streets, all you see -
trams, restaurants, hotels,

155
00:08:52,455 --> 00:08:57,242
even a police station is supported
by the 7th century reservoir.

156
00:08:59,653 --> 00:09:02,972
The marble columns
on which the city rests,

157
00:09:03,007 --> 00:09:06,764
in the past they were submerged under water,
being meant never to be seen again.

158
00:09:06,799 --> 00:09:10,259
They were recycled materials
from Byzantine constructions,

159
00:09:10,294 --> 00:09:13,800
remains taken from temples
or monuments.

160
00:09:13,835 --> 00:09:17,796
How come they don't collapse? How to cut it
isn't the police down there?

161
00:09:17,831 --> 00:09:20,369
How come the city doesn't collapse
in the catacombs?

162
00:09:20,625 --> 00:09:21,499
It is a good question.

163
00:09:21,534 --> 00:09:25,557
At this point, it should
let's remember something very important.

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00:09:26,292 --> 00:09:30,699
The city was built
on seven hills, like Rome.

165
00:09:31,919 --> 00:09:34,672
When they came across a valley,
they put columns

166
00:09:34,707 --> 00:09:38,333
they put Roman arches,
covered them

167
00:09:38,368 --> 00:09:41,925
They were killing two birds with one stone.

168
00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:46,202
They could have a water tank underneath,
and above, a flat surface.

169
00:09:47,133 --> 00:09:51,254
For almost 1,500 years
and after 25 great earthquakes,

170
00:09:51,289 --> 00:09:55,376
these columns still up in the basin
And the city above.

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00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,481
But they also hide other secrets.

172
00:10:01,233 --> 00:10:03,016
Who is this character?

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00:10:03,051 --> 00:10:05,088
It is Medusa, from Greek mythology.

174
00:10:05,123 --> 00:10:08,348
Why is Medusa here?
For some symbolic reason?

175
00:10:08,570 --> 00:10:09,745
Yes. It is a very good question.

176
00:10:09,780 --> 00:10:12,980
An explanation would be that
since you are recycling materials here,

177
00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:17,091
that's what they needed.

178
00:10:17,126 --> 00:10:19,259
They resized the stones,
they put them below,

179
00:10:19,294 --> 00:10:22,095
And they raised them to the desired level.

180
00:10:22,130 --> 00:10:25,036
But always in Istanbul
there are "other reasons"...

181
00:10:25,578 --> 00:10:29,046
Another explanation is that in the year 532

182
00:10:29,081 --> 00:10:33,675
The Christian emperor Justinian
built opposite Saint Sophia,

183
00:10:34,132 --> 00:10:37,350
the biggest church that ever was
built in the Roman Empire.

184
00:10:37,426 --> 00:10:42,161
He was a very religious person
and by burying Medusa under the column,

185
00:10:42,196 --> 00:10:43,269
which is a pagan symbol,

186
00:10:44,507 --> 00:10:47,537
laying it upside down,
immersing her in water,

187
00:10:47,572 --> 00:10:52,750
gave a message through which the pagans
they thought she was powerless to help herself.

188
00:10:53,841 --> 00:10:58,010
So not only did they store water here,
but they also hid their past.

189
00:10:58,045 --> 00:11:00,738
They buried paganism
deep in the pool.

190
00:11:00,773 --> 00:11:02,610
He couldn't have said it better.

191
00:11:02,645 --> 00:11:05,361
Istanbul was named
"Time of water reservoirs"

192
00:11:05,396 --> 00:11:07,387
And even if the Basilica Cistern
is the largest reservoir,

193
00:11:07,422 --> 00:11:12,254
is one of hundreds of huge pits,
forgotten under the city streets.

194
00:11:12,289 --> 00:11:16,029
There are people who don't know
that they have tanks under their houses

195
00:11:16,064 --> 00:11:19,770
And that I live on a property
1,500 years old.

196
00:11:23,047 --> 00:11:25,767
Nakkas is located
in the old part of the city

197
00:11:25,972 --> 00:11:29,532
and specializes in Turkish carpets,
ceramics and jewelry.

198
00:11:30,381 --> 00:11:33,236
But the real treasure is underneath.

199
00:11:33,271 --> 00:11:36,127
The owner, D�engiz Korkmaz
he agreed to drive me down.

200
00:11:36,162 --> 00:11:37,740
Yes, you can feel the humidity.

201
00:11:37,775 --> 00:11:39,785
This is our tank, Eric.

202
00:11:39,820 --> 00:11:42,026
Amazing... amazing...

203
00:11:42,061 --> 00:11:44,132
- Isn't that beautiful?
- It's amazing.

204
00:11:44,167 --> 00:11:45,436
It's an incredible place.

205
00:11:45,471 --> 00:11:47,080
usually,
a tank of this size

206
00:11:47,115 --> 00:11:49,803
required for its support
around eight columns.

207
00:11:49,922 --> 00:11:54,968
But this one has 18, which indicates the possible
the existence of a palace on its surface.

208
00:11:55,533 --> 00:11:58,024
Today, history repeats itself.

209
00:11:59,585 --> 00:12:03,579
This is a huge store with an area�� 
of almost 6,000 square meters.

210
00:12:03,614 --> 00:12:04,489
Yes.

211
00:12:04,524 --> 00:12:07,888
What should be considered
to preserve such a reservoir?

212
00:12:07,923 --> 00:12:13,676
In fact, in the construction process found
above the reservoir we were very careful.

213
00:12:13,711 --> 00:12:18,651
We told ourselves that we have to keep it
the authenticity and originality of this place.

214
00:12:18,925 --> 00:12:22,025
So I made a special type
of construction.

215
00:12:22,443 --> 00:12:26,010
Nakkas was designed by an engineer
who came up with a revolutionary idea

216
00:12:26,045 --> 00:12:28,780
to build the new building
of 6,000 square meters

217
00:12:28,815 --> 00:12:31,050
without affecting the Roman reservoir below.

218
00:12:31,463 --> 00:12:35,198
instead of using reinforced concrete beams,
they used the steel.

219
00:12:35,233 --> 00:12:38,836
This fact means 10-15% less
pressure on the structure below

220
00:12:38,871 --> 00:12:41,294
and 30% less on old buildings,

221
00:12:41,329 --> 00:12:44,419
which had been built
above the tank without anyone knowing about it.

222
00:12:44,715 --> 00:12:47,678
I used several beams
than was necessary,

223
00:12:47,713 --> 00:12:50,726
to distribute the weight
the buildings above

224
00:12:50,761 --> 00:12:53,705
and not to produce any pressure
on the tank.

225
00:12:53,740 --> 00:12:58,158
So the main thing is that more
columns support the weight more easily.

226
00:12:58,193 --> 00:12:58,938
That's it.

227
00:12:59,548 --> 00:13:02,371
30 steel beams
instead of the 20 that would have been normal,

228
00:13:02,406 --> 00:13:04,521
were used to distribute the weight.

229
00:13:04,556 --> 00:13:08,535
Then, the engineers reoriented the building
In the same way

230
00:13:08,570 --> 00:13:11,091
this should not be placed
above the tank.

231
00:13:11,126 --> 00:13:15,889
In this way, only eight out of 30 beams
come into contact with the tank.

232
00:13:16,582 --> 00:13:19,910
The whole project cost
2.5 million dollars.

233
00:13:20,208 --> 00:13:22,758
If it wasn't for the tank,
it would have cost half as much.

234
00:13:23,536 --> 00:13:26,414
There are many things
in the basement of Istanbul.

235
00:13:26,449 --> 00:13:28,415
And I think that no matter how much
we have on earth

236
00:13:28,450 --> 00:13:32,770
more than that
we have underground.

237
00:13:33,168 --> 00:13:36,255
And they are all waiting to be discovered.

238
00:13:43,429 --> 00:13:47,484
Next: Today's stadiums
I am nothing compared to a Romanian,

239
00:13:47,519 --> 00:13:50,328
Buried 4.5 meters underground.

240
00:13:51,205 --> 00:13:52,756
It's incredible.

241
00:14:02,562 --> 00:14:06,072
It is Saturday evening in Istanbul,
and this is the right place to be.

242
00:14:06,107 --> 00:14:07,846
But when the Romanians were here,

243
00:14:07,881 --> 00:14:10,557
they built a stadium
twice as big as this.

244
00:14:10,592 --> 00:14:14,053
Imagine the death races...

245
00:14:14,088 --> 00:14:16,635
The emperor and his family are sitting
in the royal lodge...

246
00:14:16,670 --> 00:14:20,467
And nearly 100,000 people shouting,
just like these.

247
00:14:20,502 --> 00:14:23,522
This huge hippodrome still exists.

248
00:14:23,557 --> 00:14:26,810
It is almost 4.5 meters away
under the city streets.

249
00:14:26,845 --> 00:14:30,765
But like an ancient race track,
twice as big

250
00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,642
than the biggest football stadium
from Istanbul, disappeared underground?

251
00:14:34,946 --> 00:14:37,410
And how could I see him?

252
00:14:43,123 --> 00:14:46,174
I'm meeting
with imen Filiz Pasa, historian,

253
00:14:46,209 --> 00:14:49,354
in the crowded Sultanahmet market,
from the old quarter of the city.

254
00:14:50,868 --> 00:14:54,519
Nowadays, the modern city is spreading
beyond the walls from the time of the Romans

255
00:14:54,554 --> 00:14:56,834
and crosses
Bosphorus Strait to Asia.

256
00:14:58,606 --> 00:15:02,065
But remains of the old town
remains under our feet.

257
00:15:02,674 --> 00:15:06,479
In 306 AD, Constantine
was named Roman emperor.

258
00:15:06,514 --> 00:15:09,220
Constantine the Great, according to Christian historians,
legalized Christianity

259
00:15:09,255 --> 00:15:11,949
Even from the times of paganism.

260
00:15:11,984 --> 00:15:15,847
It also successfully brought together the vast
Roman empire under one emperor.

261
00:15:16,202 --> 00:15:17,622
As the empire grew,

262
00:15:17,657 --> 00:15:20,833
Rome has become too far away
for the eastern expansion.

263
00:15:22,698 --> 00:15:25,795
in the year 324 AD Constantine
decided to move the capital

264
00:15:25,830 --> 00:15:30,173
In the strategic but provincial city
called Byzantium and later Constantinople.

265
00:15:31,915 --> 00:15:35,706
Shortly after the move,
The Roman Empire in the western provinces,

266
00:15:35,741 --> 00:15:39,235
including Rome,
fell into the hands of the barbarians.

267
00:15:39,270 --> 00:15:43,517
In 330 AD, the Roman Empire,
with the capital in Constantinople,

268
00:15:43,552 --> 00:15:45,251
became known as
by the Eastern Roman Empire,

269
00:15:45,736 --> 00:15:47,777
later called the Byzantine Empire.

270
00:15:48,063 --> 00:15:51,633
Constantine's decision to move the capital,
changed the course of history

271
00:15:51,668 --> 00:15:54,857
making from Constantinople
the most powerful place on Earth.

272
00:15:55,184 --> 00:15:58,674
The Palace, the Hippodrome
and the Saint Sofia church

273
00:15:58,709 --> 00:16:01,674
are three of the most important
buildings of the Empire.

274
00:16:01,959 --> 00:16:06,119
These three were once upon a time
In the market we walk through.

275
00:16:06,154 --> 00:16:08,957
Currently, Saint Sofia is the only one
remaining building

276
00:16:08,992 --> 00:16:11,853
on the surface of the earth.

277
00:16:13,246 --> 00:16:16,183
The original hippodrome
was built in 203 AD.

278
00:16:16,218 --> 00:16:18,607
by the Roman emperor, Septimus Severus.

279
00:16:18,642 --> 00:16:22,206
But in 324 AD,
Emperor Constantine began

280
00:16:22,241 --> 00:16:27,232
expansion of the initial construction,
depending on the Circus Maximus in Rome.

281
00:16:27,267 --> 00:16:31,029
Added additional seats,
for 100,000 spectators

282
00:16:31,703 --> 00:16:35,294
And he expanded the fitness track
of "U" over 400 meters long,

283
00:16:35,329 --> 00:16:37,974
And with approximately 76 m in width.

284
00:16:38,009 --> 00:16:41,114
An equally large arena
as much as 5.5 football fields.

285
00:16:41,149 --> 00:16:46,194
He decorated the center, the "thorn" or the "middle",
with monuments from all areas of the Empire.

286
00:16:47,652 --> 00:16:50,727
These monuments
reflect the power of Rome,

287
00:16:50,762 --> 00:16:54,352
but they are also used for
to intentionally block the view of spectators.

288
00:16:54,678 --> 00:16:56,999
They increase the suspense of the spectators

289
00:16:57,034 --> 00:16:58,833
while the chariots disappear

290
00:16:58,868 --> 00:17:03,225
and reappear behind the thorn,
While crossing the deadly curve.

291
00:17:03,260 --> 00:17:06,152
The hippodrome was not a place
just for fun.

292
00:17:06,187 --> 00:17:09,286
It was also the place where the citizens
they were facing their king...

293
00:17:09,321 --> 00:17:11,911
often leading to bloody riots.

294
00:17:11,946 --> 00:17:14,466
After a course with which,
in 532 AD,

295
00:17:14,501 --> 00:17:18,930
angry rebels started a riot
against Emperor Justinian.

296
00:17:18,965 --> 00:17:23,360
After five days of protests, they were killed
Between 30-50,000 rebels.

297
00:17:24,222 --> 00:17:27,156
This scandalous event
it was called "the revolt from Nika".

298
00:17:27,191 --> 00:17:31,746
It is rumored that the bodies of the victims
were buried under the Hippodrome.

299
00:17:33,963 --> 00:17:36,787
Byzantine bones, seats for spectators.

300
00:17:36,822 --> 00:17:39,456
There were no bulldozers
to clean up the remains.

301
00:17:39,491 --> 00:17:43,651
Currently, no one knows what it is
really under the pavement.

302
00:17:43,686 --> 00:17:48,474
Three monuments behind the hippodrome
who survived, play the role perfectly

303
00:17:48,509 --> 00:17:53,262
In determining how much it has changed
the surface of the soil in almost 1,700 years.

304
00:17:54,214 --> 00:17:58,417
If you look below,
you can see the initial level of this spine.

305
00:17:59,101 --> 00:18:02,385
It is about a meter and a half
all the way down.

306
00:18:03,062 --> 00:18:06,527
Cimen told me that before I went down,
i should go up

307
00:18:06,562 --> 00:18:09,993
to truly understand
the evolution of the Hippodrome.

308
00:18:12,481 --> 00:18:14,504
I have been granted permission
specially to climb

309
00:18:14,539 --> 00:18:17,861
in one of the six minarets or towers,
from the famous Blue Mosque,

310
00:18:18,451 --> 00:18:20,497
the highest observation point
from the old city.

311
00:18:21,313 --> 00:18:24,765
This mosque needed them
Seven years to build

312
00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,305
And it was completed in 1616.

313
00:18:27,340 --> 00:18:30,871
It is believed to be located above
the ruins on the west side of the Hippodrome

314
00:18:30,906 --> 00:18:33,527
and of the Imperial Lodge.

315
00:18:33,925 --> 00:18:38,129
We will climb 135 steps.
Here it is a little wider.

316
00:18:38,164 --> 00:18:42,326
I have never been in a minaret before.
It's a little dark in here.

317
00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:50,011
It's incredible.
It was worth the climb.

318
00:18:52,934 --> 00:18:56,240
It can be seen
about where the Hippodrome was.

319
00:18:56,275 --> 00:19:01,617
From that green well, the road follows
the route of this track that he hated��,

320
00:19:01,652 --> 00:19:04,894
bypass the obelisk and walk on
all those buildings up here.

321
00:19:05,195 --> 00:19:08,361
You can see the carriage races
and the festivities that take place on the Hippodrome.

322
00:19:08,396 --> 00:19:10,943
It must have been a huge place.

323
00:19:11,536 --> 00:19:14,390
But the transition from carriage racing
drawn by horses

324
00:19:14,425 --> 00:19:18,739
to the taxis five meters above,
it didn't happen overnight.

325
00:19:18,774 --> 00:19:21,803
The tradition of the hippodrome is coming
from the pagan Greeks,

326
00:19:21,838 --> 00:19:24,797
and in a city with influences
Christians and Muslims

327
00:19:24,832 --> 00:19:28,788
it is not surprising that this
was completely buried underground.

328
00:19:28,823 --> 00:19:31,859
For a period of a thousand years,
this Hippodrome

329
00:19:31,894 --> 00:19:35,672
it was the center, the heart of the Roman Empire.

330
00:19:35,707 --> 00:19:40,441
It was also important for
Bizan�, but important� is the change.

331
00:19:40,775 --> 00:19:44,940
In paganism, you live in this world,
in this life.

332
00:19:44,975 --> 00:19:49,205
But in Christianity,
this is your place of suffering��.

333
00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:53,435
If you are a good believer,
you don't have time for fun.

334
00:19:53,911 --> 00:19:57,494
The Byzantine believers may not have
time to have fun at the Hippodrome,

335
00:19:57,529 --> 00:20:01,077
but another religious group was that
which silenced the stands.

336
00:20:01,748 --> 00:20:05,433
In 1204, the Fourth Crusade
pierced the walls of the city.

337
00:20:05,468 --> 00:20:09,273
The richest Christian city in the world
it was looted to the point of destruction.

338
00:20:10,286 --> 00:20:14,518
The Crusaders destroyed almost everything,
including the Hippodrome.

339
00:20:14,922 --> 00:20:18,526
They took the 5th century bronze horses,
displayed above the Hippodrome,

340
00:20:18,758 --> 00:20:20,108
And they brought them back to Venice.

341
00:20:20,618 --> 00:20:24,524
For centuries, they have been exposed
at St. Mark's Cathedral.

342
00:20:26,887 --> 00:20:30,380
When the Ottomans conquered Istanbul in 1453

343
00:20:30,415 --> 00:20:32,547
the great Hippodrome was in ruins.

344
00:20:32,582 --> 00:20:36,332
And the Ottoman Empire granted
a lot of attention to this place.

345
00:20:36,367 --> 00:20:39,133
This was the center of the city.

346
00:20:39,168 --> 00:20:41,962
For this reason they built
all these beautiful buildings.

347
00:20:42,632 --> 00:20:44,751
Much of the ground level raised
which we see today,

348
00:20:44,786 --> 00:20:47,778
it was formed when the dirt and rubble
from the construction of the Blue Mosque,

349
00:20:47,813 --> 00:20:51,542
were thrown directly
over the old racetrack.

350
00:20:52,059 --> 00:20:55,671
The builders of the other buildings
they did the same.

351
00:20:55,706 --> 00:20:59,948
So, below the market,
I found the old ruins of the Hippodrome.

352
00:20:59,983 --> 00:21:02,856
After only a few minutes
walking through a natural valley,

353
00:21:02,891 --> 00:21:05,729
The man is about to show me
the only part of the Hippodrome

354
00:21:05,764 --> 00:21:09,211
which was preserved.
This is called a sphendom.

355
00:21:09,711 --> 00:21:13,801
This is the sphendom.
It is the outer wall of the Hippodrome.

356
00:21:13,836 --> 00:21:19,576
It is an edge, and here we have a side
with a high platform, called sphendom.

357
00:21:21,347 --> 00:21:24,831
Currently, above the sphendome
several layers of the past are laid down.

358
00:21:24,866 --> 00:21:28,482
Sultanahmet Technical School.

359
00:21:28,517 --> 00:21:32,488
This is a 3rd century wall
which was part of the Hippodrome.

360
00:21:32,523 --> 00:21:36,459
At present, its construction is so
how solid this school is.

361
00:21:36,904 --> 00:21:39,016
A pretty good Romanian engineering.

362
00:21:41,084 --> 00:21:45,273
The sphendom supports the school
And most of Sultanahmet square.

363
00:21:45,308 --> 00:21:49,463
That's all that's stopping me
to reach the ancient Hippodrome.

364
00:21:56,586 --> 00:22:00,430
Next: No one has ever done it before
what I'm about to do.

365
00:22:00,465 --> 00:22:02,717
It is absolutely amazing.
We are in the underground of Istanbul...

366
00:22:02,752 --> 00:22:03,483
...in a boat.

367
00:22:03,715 --> 00:22:05,398
We sail towards the Hippodrome.

368
00:22:11,362 --> 00:22:13,714
Most residents don't even think about it

369
00:22:13,749 --> 00:22:17,596
what is hiding under the wall from the century. the third
from the middle of Sultanahmet square.

370
00:22:19,379 --> 00:22:24,443
Below it are the ruins of an ancient
Romanian hippodrome, with hundreds of thousands of seats.

371
00:22:24,478 --> 00:22:28,455
The area has never been excavated
entirely by archaeologists.

372
00:22:28,490 --> 00:22:32,162
But I am determined to see
what was left underground.

373
00:22:32,728 --> 00:22:34,975
Compared to Circus Maximus
from Rome,

374
00:22:35,010 --> 00:22:39,461
The hippodrome was built in a natural valley
Inclined on the south side from the sea.

375
00:22:39,496 --> 00:22:42,302
At first, the engineers closed
the southern part of the valley

376
00:22:42,337 --> 00:22:44,917
with a U-shaped wall,
called sphendom.

377
00:22:44,952 --> 00:22:47,579
It was 40 meters high
and was associated with places,

378
00:22:47,925 --> 00:22:50,866
While the race track
was placed on the soil of the vineyard.

379
00:22:51,342 --> 00:22:55,020
The track was flat,
the ground was inclined towards the sphendom,

380
00:22:55,055 --> 00:22:57,624
thus forming a cavity or backstage,

381
00:22:57,659 --> 00:23:01,322
Starting where the track ends
And where did the sphendom begin.

382
00:23:02,387 --> 00:23:04,928
Rumor has it that these scenes are intact,

383
00:23:06,003 --> 00:23:09,925
and we received a special permission� 
to penetrate inside.

384
00:23:10,883 --> 00:23:14,011
Even archaeologists know
difficulties with obtaining permission.

385
00:23:14,046 --> 00:23:17,412
A little difficulty in opening
the gates of the hippodrome.

386
00:23:20,749 --> 00:23:22,582
Very exciting.

387
00:23:31,032 --> 00:23:34,317
We also have some friends here.
Some cockroaches.

388
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:43,114
What do we have here?
It seems to be...

389
00:23:44,618 --> 00:23:48,549
appears to be filled with soil,
maybe the roof gave way.

390
00:23:48,584 --> 00:23:52,480
I can't say if it's a lot or a little.
It's hard to say...

391
00:23:52,755 --> 00:23:55,414
But this cavity continues.

392
00:23:55,449 --> 00:23:58,871
I don't think we will go any further.
At least not here.

393
00:23:59,934 --> 00:24:03,272
Along the circular corridor,
i can see six rooms

394
00:24:03,307 --> 00:24:07,108
and in every room there is
a cavern that leads into another tunnel.

395
00:24:07,143 --> 00:24:10,078
Can these lead to the Hippodrome track?

396
00:24:10,113 --> 00:24:14,954
This room, as well as the other rooms
similar, would be behind the scenes.

397
00:24:14,989 --> 00:24:19,795
They are like the pits in car races,
who come here for tires or fuel.

398
00:24:20,015 --> 00:24:21,388
Who could have come here.

399
00:24:21,666 --> 00:24:26,129
Chariots might have needed reds,
water, whatever they needed,

400
00:24:26,164 --> 00:24:30,027
and hundreds of thousands of people shouting
would be right there.

401
00:24:34,584 --> 00:24:38,318
I see some steps.
Did you hear that?

402
00:24:38,353 --> 00:24:42,412
Can we get down here?
I heard some noises.

403
00:24:43,317 --> 00:24:44,608
Take care, Eric.

404
00:24:44,643 --> 00:24:49,233
I try to be careful.
They seem to be 10-12 meters high.

405
00:24:50,425 --> 00:24:54,446
Masonry and paving works
it looks perfect.

406
00:24:54,481 --> 00:24:58,468
It must be, if they resisted
1,500-1,600 years.

407
00:24:59,790 --> 00:25:04,133
It seems I can't go down anymore,
because here it looks as if it had been flooded.

408
00:25:05,090 --> 00:25:09,354
Yes, probably this one
is the end of the road.

409
00:25:09,389 --> 00:25:13,217
The water prevents me from exploring
further the hippodrome. Or not?

410
00:25:15,811 --> 00:25:18,349
Hasan Bey...
Nice to meet you, Hasan.

411
00:25:18,384 --> 00:25:21,257
Hasan Oral is an explorer
of urban caverns

412
00:25:21,292 --> 00:25:24,861
who went through the secret tunnels
from under the whole city.

413
00:25:25,482 --> 00:25:27,867
- Let's take some boats.
- Okay.

414
00:25:27,902 --> 00:25:30,253
What do we have here?
A rubber boat?

415
00:25:30,288 --> 00:25:31,003
Yes.

416
00:25:36,181 --> 00:25:37,688
Have you been here before?

417
00:25:37,723 --> 00:25:39,434
No, now is the first time.

418
00:25:39,469 --> 00:25:41,773
- So, you don't know what we're going to find, do you?
- No.

419
00:25:44,649 --> 00:25:47,313
Lantern. So it starts.

420
00:25:49,009 --> 00:25:50,569
I didn't understand.

421
00:25:50,604 --> 00:25:54,483
- Okay, let's go inside.
- I will carry these.

422
00:25:56,384 --> 00:25:59,623
We will find the tunnels through which the horses came out
galloping towards the hippodrome

423
00:25:59,658 --> 00:26:03,193
or passageways
to the Imperial Lodge�?

424
00:26:06,208 --> 00:26:08,440
I think we need a little more.

425
00:26:08,873 --> 00:26:11,037
If we get stuck here,
in the Hippodrome,

426
00:26:11,072 --> 00:26:13,292
they will find us over 1,000 years.

427
00:26:13,327 --> 00:26:15,293
Ready. Let's go.

428
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:23,034
what do you say

429
00:26:23,838 --> 00:26:25,940
Do I have to get down on my knees?

430
00:26:25,975 --> 00:26:28,814
Yes, yes, on my knees
it is the best.

431
00:26:31,245 --> 00:26:32,476
I can...

432
00:26:32,511 --> 00:26:33,999
Welcome to your boat.

433
00:26:34,034 --> 00:26:37,488
It's amazing.
We are under Istanbul... in a boat.

434
00:26:38,625 --> 00:26:40,919
And we row towards the Hippodrome.

435
00:26:41,385 --> 00:26:46,442
It is clear that we got rid of pollution
from above. It smells like feces.

436
00:26:46,477 --> 00:26:48,837
I don't know what's here
but it is not very pleasant.

437
00:26:48,872 --> 00:26:51,162
But this used to be
the center of the city.

438
00:26:51,197 --> 00:26:54,507
I know it's a bit embarrassing to say, but these
it could be the racecourse toilets.

439
00:26:54,542 --> 00:26:57,772
It could be ancient shit, floating on water.

440
00:27:00,474 --> 00:27:05,065
It seems like every 6-10 meters
we discover a room.

441
00:27:05,100 --> 00:27:09,657
There could have been warehouses here
for the supply of carriages.

442
00:27:10,423 --> 00:27:13,337
It's big enough for a stable,
to keep the horses here.

443
00:27:13,372 --> 00:27:16,251
The athletes could have trained here
for entering the arena.

444
00:27:16,804 --> 00:27:18,280
There seems to be some rubble here.

445
00:27:18,489 --> 00:27:21,007
- I can't see the col.
- It's concrete.

446
00:27:21,775 --> 00:27:23,823
There is concrete there.

447
00:27:23,858 --> 00:27:25,910
We have another layer of history.

448
00:27:25,945 --> 00:27:28,428
Surely��, the wall,
it is neither Roman nor Byzantine.

449
00:27:28,463 --> 00:27:31,662
It most likely appears to be a wall
from the late period of the Ottoman Empire.

450
00:27:31,697 --> 00:27:35,739
Hassan explained that the Turks converted
the sphendom in a water tank.

451
00:27:36,226 --> 00:27:40,259
The walls were covered with cement,
and the water through which I just swam

452
00:27:40,294 --> 00:27:43,165
prove that the reservoir
It still does its job.

453
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:45,886
So this is the way, but it has to be
let's see what's beyond.

454
00:27:45,921 --> 00:27:46,862
- We have to continue, right?
- Yes, yes.

455
00:27:46,897 --> 00:27:48,420
- Let's go up.
- Yes, let's go up.

456
00:27:56,975 --> 00:27:58,312
Let's give way'.

457
00:27:59,949 --> 00:28:02,692
At first glance...
let me tell you what I see here.

458
00:28:02,727 --> 00:28:06,615
This is a flat surface.
A smooth surface.

459
00:28:07,212 --> 00:28:11,165
We stopped here, on the smooth surface,
but we have no equipment to go down.

460
00:28:11,610 --> 00:28:13,163
there is more water in this tunnel,

461
00:28:13,198 --> 00:28:17,321
And maybe the tunnel here
leads directly to the Hippodrome,

462
00:28:17,693 --> 00:28:20,528
And I'm sorry we can't see him.

463
00:28:22,181 --> 00:28:23,844
For us, this is the end of the road,

464
00:28:23,879 --> 00:28:25,612
but Rome was not built
in a single day

465
00:28:25,647 --> 00:28:28,646
so we won't discover everything either
about Istanbul and its underground world,

466
00:28:29,266 --> 00:28:30,631
in a single day.

467
00:28:30,666 --> 00:28:33,653
Hasan, you will be the one
who will discover what is there, right?

468
00:28:33,688 --> 00:28:38,548
Yes, I think I will come with more people
And with equipment and we'll see...

469
00:28:40,467 --> 00:28:42,392
...what is there

470
00:28:53,894 --> 00:28:56,053
It follows:
More than a hundred years ago,

471
00:28:56,088 --> 00:28:57,725
a fire destroyed the old town.

472
00:28:58,253 --> 00:29:00,533
The Lost Palace of Constantine
was found.

473
00:29:00,568 --> 00:29:02,598
Today, I will go down
under the carpet shop

474
00:29:02,633 --> 00:29:04,629
And I will discover another side
of the puzzle.

475
00:29:04,955 --> 00:29:09,098
It seems that he is beyond that
another arch that leads to another room.

476
00:29:09,133 --> 00:29:09,876
That's it.

477
00:29:22,761 --> 00:29:25,599
Currently, we know the city
under the name of Istanbul.

478
00:29:25,634 --> 00:29:28,437
But 1,700 years ago,
this was Constantinople.

479
00:29:28,472 --> 00:29:31,505
The place where Emperor Constantine

480
00:29:31,540 --> 00:29:33,740
designated it to be the new capital
of the Roman Empire.

481
00:29:33,775 --> 00:29:38,015
Constantine wanted this
to be a capital and bigger than Rome.

482
00:29:38,050 --> 00:29:42,256
It started with the construction of the palace
who will be envied by everyone.

483
00:29:42,291 --> 00:29:44,972
So where is the Grand Palace now?

484
00:29:45,657 --> 00:29:49,693
The complex of palaces that Constantine
he built it, when the capital was relocated,

485
00:29:49,728 --> 00:29:51,860
it was called the Great Palace.

486
00:29:51,895 --> 00:29:56,219
It was lying on a surface
of approximately 100,000 square meters.

487
00:29:56,254 --> 00:29:59,334
That means about 15 football fields.

488
00:29:59,369 --> 00:30:04,241
The palace extends from the Sea of ​​Marmara
and continue along the Hippodrome.

489
00:30:04,276 --> 00:30:09,024
Restricted to ordinary people, this was
as an orel for the emperor and the royal court.

490
00:30:09,059 --> 00:30:14,252
It included administrative buildings,
bedrooms, churches, libraries,

491
00:30:14,287 --> 00:30:17,375
thermal baths, fountains and ornamental gardens.

492
00:30:17,410 --> 00:30:22,395
bronze pores,
the mechanical lions that reigned and the mosaic,

493
00:30:22,430 --> 00:30:25,901
they pretended to be one
among the wonders of the ancient world.

494
00:30:28,610 --> 00:30:32,672
But at the end of the Byzantine era,
through a much-disputed move,

495
00:30:32,905 --> 00:30:36,959
the royal family left it all
it grows for a smaller palace, inside.

496
00:30:36,994 --> 00:30:38,429
No one knows exactly why,

497
00:30:38,966 --> 00:30:41,276
but this decision
it was the beginning of the decline

498
00:30:41,542 --> 00:30:43,997
the biggest palace
of Constantine.

499
00:30:44,334 --> 00:30:47,497
When the fourth crusade
devastated the city in 1204,

500
00:30:47,532 --> 00:30:51,322
the crusaders remained
to live among the ruins of the palace

501
00:30:51,357 --> 00:30:53,811
And even store them
the stolen things there.

502
00:30:54,332 --> 00:30:56,373
The Turks conquered the city in 1453

503
00:30:56,408 --> 00:30:58,753
And they started rebuilding the area
according to their needs,

504
00:30:59,341 --> 00:31:02,169
recycling found materials.

505
00:31:02,204 --> 00:31:05,837
Soon, the walls of the palaces
they became the walls of the Turks' houses.

506
00:31:05,872 --> 00:31:09,471
Byzantine stone was used
for building new mosques.

507
00:31:09,506 --> 00:31:11,922
After 470 years of Turkish domination,

508
00:31:12,380 --> 00:31:16,597
The Great Palace slowly disappeared
underground and was forgotten.

509
00:31:17,141 --> 00:31:21,293
Until 1912, when a fire
completely destroyed Sultanahmet Square

510
00:31:21,328 --> 00:31:23,378
And it destroyed hundreds of homes.

511
00:31:23,413 --> 00:31:24,600
When the debris was removed,

512
00:31:24,986 --> 00:31:27,827
the ruins of the Great Palace of Constantine
they appeared from under the ashes��.

513
00:31:28,350 --> 00:31:30,965
The lost Romanian city has been found.

514
00:31:32,402 --> 00:31:34,837
And I will see him.

515
00:31:37,631 --> 00:31:41,006
The fire helped the discovery
the courtyard of the palace from the 4th century,

516
00:31:41,041 --> 00:31:44,740
And one of the best
mosaics of the world.

517
00:31:44,775 --> 00:31:47,927
The mosaic was ordered
by Emperor Justinian at 200 years

518
00:31:47,962 --> 00:31:51,089
after Constantine
He built his Imperial Palace.

519
00:31:51,124 --> 00:31:54,181
The mosaic has been hidden
under housing for hundreds of years.

520
00:31:54,216 --> 00:31:58,950
Basically, this huge mosaic
it is a road for kings.

521
00:31:59,315 --> 00:32:02,387
They were probably passing through here
on the way to the Hippodrome,

522
00:32:02,422 --> 00:32:04,478
or to other areas of the Palace.

523
00:32:05,370 --> 00:32:07,519
You can see how lavish this is.

524
00:32:07,554 --> 00:32:09,633
How huge the palace must have been.

525
00:32:09,668 --> 00:32:14,710
It is not difficult to imagine it
the emperor Justinian passing by like me.

526
00:32:15,203 --> 00:32:17,342
Of course, crossing the mosaic.

527
00:32:17,994 --> 00:32:20,859
The mosaic was part of it
from the royal architecture "peristyle"

528
00:32:20,894 --> 00:32:23,647
a closed courtyard surrounded by columns.

529
00:32:23,682 --> 00:32:27,122
The court was part of the enormous complex
of the Grand Palace.

530
00:32:27,157 --> 00:32:30,474
At present, I can see
only 250 square meters,

531
00:32:30,970 --> 00:32:34,456
only one eighth of the whole yard.

532
00:32:34,796 --> 00:32:36,282
1,500 years ago,

533
00:32:36,607 --> 00:32:40,266
the mosaic spread over a surface�� 
of almost 1,900 square meters.

534
00:32:40,647 --> 00:32:45,677
I mean, 75-80 million
of handmade mosaic pieces.

535
00:32:49,696 --> 00:32:52,248
I'm meeting the archaeologist
Ferudun Ozgumus

536
00:32:52,283 --> 00:32:54,800
to find out
where the rest of the Palace is hidden.

537
00:32:55,032 --> 00:32:56,255
- Hello, Mr. Drago.
- Nice to meet you.

538
00:32:56,290 --> 00:32:57,823
Thank you for coming.

539
00:32:57,858 --> 00:33:03,443
He grew up in the old town and played
in the tunnels and structures of the Great Palace

540
00:33:03,774 --> 00:33:06,063
Before him or anyone else
to know what they were.

541
00:33:06,304 --> 00:33:09,993
This stone. If I take it out and start digging,
what exactly will i find?

542
00:33:10,028 --> 00:33:12,603
In my opinion,
the ruins of the Great Palace.

543
00:33:12,638 --> 00:33:15,144
The ruins of the Grand Palace are below us.

544
00:33:15,179 --> 00:33:18,915
Because right now
we go to the edges...

545
00:33:18,950 --> 00:33:21,181
The Great Palace of ancient Constantinople.

546
00:33:21,753 --> 00:33:24,442
He leads me down the streets
in an area of the Grand Palace

547
00:33:24,477 --> 00:33:27,512
which has never been excavated,
And of which few know that it exists.

548
00:33:29,637 --> 00:33:32,293
Asia Minor Carpet Store,
it is no different

549
00:33:32,328 --> 00:33:34,505
compared to other carpet stores in the area.

550
00:33:35,464 --> 00:33:39,114
But under the courtyard,
an entry was found.

551
00:33:45,064 --> 00:33:48,178
Little by little,
they began to remove the earth,

552
00:33:48,784 --> 00:33:51,855
until they found five rooms

553
00:33:51,890 --> 00:33:56,117
who are believed to be part of the lost
structures of the Grand Palace.

554
00:34:06,485 --> 00:34:08,442
It is very impressive.

555
00:34:08,477 --> 00:34:11,737
There are many such foundations
in Istanbul.

556
00:34:11,772 --> 00:34:15,579
We are in a basement of the Grand Palace.

557
00:34:15,614 --> 00:34:18,560
The Throne Hall of Constantine the Great
where he received his guests,

558
00:34:18,595 --> 00:34:21,507
it is believed that it used to be there
right above our heads.

559
00:34:21,811 --> 00:34:25,214
It is said that the Byzantines
they kept wild animals here,

560
00:34:25,249 --> 00:34:28,085
that the crusaders were walking
through these rooms,

561
00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:31,352
and later, the Turks used
these rooms as prisons.

562
00:34:31,387 --> 00:34:33,395
Search this room,

563
00:34:33,430 --> 00:34:36,305
so intense as if you put it together
pieces of a puzzle.

564
00:34:36,340 --> 00:34:39,180
The bricks tell us a lot
of things about construction.

565
00:34:39,215 --> 00:34:41,979
There are two different buildings here.

566
00:34:42,014 --> 00:34:44,197
One of them is this.
It is older.

567
00:34:44,232 --> 00:34:46,143
In my opinion,
is from the 4th century AD,

568
00:34:46,543 --> 00:34:47,883
from the time of Constantine the Great.

569
00:34:47,918 --> 00:34:49,224
This is older, from the 6th century.

570
00:34:49,894 --> 00:34:56,325
If you look at the bricks, the thickness
each brick can be 6-7 cm.

571
00:34:57,458 --> 00:35:02,470
This was the standard thickness
for the bricks from the 5th and 6th centuries AD.

572
00:35:02,505 --> 00:35:05,353
In fact, it is a wall from the time of the Turks,
blocking the entrance to the tunnel,

573
00:35:05,388 --> 00:35:07,133
leaning on an archway
of Romanian origin,

574
00:35:07,357 --> 00:35:10,387
later, consolidated
on a Byzantine arcade.

575
00:35:10,422 --> 00:35:13,418
These three empires used
the same space.

576
00:35:13,453 --> 00:35:16,396
1,700 years of history.
Right here.

577
00:35:16,926 --> 00:35:18,998
It seems that beyond this wall of earth

578
00:35:19,033 --> 00:35:21,147
it is another arcade
which leads to another room.

579
00:35:21,182 --> 00:35:23,978
Yes... another room. Absolutely sure
that there is another room...

580
00:35:24,013 --> 00:35:25,955
Full of rubble, like this one.
Look.

581
00:35:25,990 --> 00:35:30,379
All these things could lead
from the Palace to St. Sofia or the Hippodrome.

582
00:35:30,414 --> 00:35:32,690
- Because we are not too far from the Hippodrome.
- We are very close.

583
00:35:32,725 --> 00:35:35,736
- So, this can lead to the Hippodrome?
- Yes, it is.

584
00:35:37,085 --> 00:35:40,352
It means that almost every building
or store on 30 streets

585
00:35:40,387 --> 00:35:43,741
it is above a part
from the foundation of the Palace.

586
00:35:44,418 --> 00:35:47,487
It could be an escape route
under the nearby hotel.

587
00:35:47,522 --> 00:35:50,556
A modern restaurant could be located
above a tunnel

588
00:35:50,591 --> 00:35:53,359
through which exotic animals
were brought to the Hippodrome.

589
00:35:53,394 --> 00:35:55,005
And maybe a taxi driver passes by

590
00:35:55,276 --> 00:35:58,351
right on top of one of the libraries
lost of the palace, right now.

591
00:36:00,002 --> 00:36:01,982
This is as if it were a funeral chamber.

592
00:36:02,017 --> 00:36:04,068
It is a ni�� with an arcade.

593
00:36:04,775 --> 00:36:10,553
Usually, in Byzantine archaeology,
this is an arcosolium of the... tomb type.

594
00:36:11,317 --> 00:36:14,819
- This could be a grave.
- It would be for an important person.

595
00:36:16,018 --> 00:36:20,932
Without precise studies, Ferudum cannot
say that it is indeed a grave,

596
00:36:20,967 --> 00:36:25,468
but only a proof of one, he added
the mystery of the underground city.

597
00:36:33,050 --> 00:36:36,700
Next: The underground excavations
from Istanbul

598
00:36:36,735 --> 00:36:39,060
I can reveal a sinister side.

599
00:36:39,095 --> 00:36:43,560
They grabbed his tongue,
They pierced his eardrums, castrated you.

600
00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:45,473
- It is not a very pleasant place.
- No, it isn't.

601
00:36:54,498 --> 00:36:56,594
After almost 300 years
of Romanian domination,

602
00:36:56,629 --> 00:37:00,698
1,000 years of the Byzantines
and 500 years of Turks,

603
00:37:00,733 --> 00:37:02,924
the underground of Istanbul
they are like a museum

604
00:37:02,959 --> 00:37:05,953
who has a large collection
of water tanks,

605
00:37:05,988 --> 00:37:08,947
unexpected mosaics
And secret royal rooms.

606
00:37:08,982 --> 00:37:11,250
These treasures share the same space

607
00:37:11,285 --> 00:37:14,266
with an even more sinister side
of Istanbul's past.

608
00:37:15,305 --> 00:37:20,028
Three months ago, in a neighborhood
quiet from Balat, was discovered

609
00:37:20,063 --> 00:37:23,597
one of the most famous and dangerous
Underground prisons from the Byzantine Empire.

610
00:37:24,952 --> 00:37:28,207
Guide Ali Pasa and chief archaeologist Irin Akinci

611
00:37:28,242 --> 00:37:29,295
they agreed to drive me

612
00:37:29,330 --> 00:37:31,778
In the underground of Anemas prison
from the twelfth century.

613
00:37:34,087 --> 00:37:38,270
The most famous form of torture
it was the burning of the prisoners' eyes.

614
00:37:50,225 --> 00:37:53,928
If you look up, you realize
how low we are.

615
00:37:55,141 --> 00:37:59,597
The bottom is almost 18-25 meters.

616
00:37:59,632 --> 00:38:04,282
And you realize how many rooms there are,
just looking.

617
00:38:04,317 --> 00:38:09,706
There are six sections only from what I can see
from here. It's like a labyrinth.

618
00:38:11,367 --> 00:38:13,499
in this prison
1,000 years old,

619
00:38:13,534 --> 00:38:17,388
it was an annex of the Tekfur Palace
located nearby.

620
00:38:17,423 --> 00:38:21,582
Unlike Romanians and Turks,
whose rule was based on bloodline,

621
00:38:21,617 --> 00:38:24,870
anyone he could have become
the next Byzantine emperor.

622
00:38:24,905 --> 00:38:29,520
For the next 350 years, the plots
Against the king they were so frequent,

623
00:38:29,555 --> 00:38:31,533
Because he needed a place
big enough

624
00:38:31,568 --> 00:38:35,221
And of an extremely severe punishment
to maintain his power.

625
00:38:35,888 --> 00:38:39,393
So what could happen to him:
they could torture you

626
00:38:39,428 --> 00:38:42,899
they blind you, and cut out your tongue,
They pierced his eardrums,

627
00:38:42,934 --> 00:38:45,423
they could castrate you.

628
00:38:45,458 --> 00:38:47,711
They could keep you here forever

629
00:38:47,746 --> 00:38:52,483
until you became nothing
just a creature that no longer speaks.

630
00:38:52,518 --> 00:38:54,658
- It is not a very pleasant place.
- No, it isn't.

631
00:38:55,192 --> 00:38:58,517
Only three months ago, this one
dungeon was full of ruins.

632
00:38:59,111 --> 00:39:00,444
The local authorities had heard about her,

633
00:39:00,891 --> 00:39:05,228
but no one imagined that something like this
of immense size was buried in their vicinity.

634
00:39:05,948 --> 00:39:08,542
And it is right under this mosque
from the 16th century.

635
00:39:09,804 --> 00:39:12,362
The ``underground prison'' has the shape
a spine.

636
00:39:12,397 --> 00:39:14,980
The long corridor stretched
from end to end

637
00:39:15,015 --> 00:39:16,073
forming the backbone,

638
00:39:16,482 --> 00:39:20,438
and the 12 prison rooms were available
on each side, like some vertebrae.

639
00:39:21,083 --> 00:39:24,321
It is believed that he was in prison
had three levels,

640
00:39:24,854 --> 00:39:27,456
18-24 meters high,

641
00:39:27,788 --> 00:39:31,551
with wooden floors, which meanwhile
disintegrated, but which separated the floors,

642
00:39:31,586 --> 00:39:34,082
but not the screams of the tortured.

643
00:39:34,117 --> 00:39:36,103
The rooms had a length
about three meters

644
00:39:36,304 --> 00:39:38,150
And a length between 9 and 12 meters.

645
00:39:38,546 --> 00:39:41,782
Twelve Byzantine columns
supported this underground structure,

646
00:39:42,358 --> 00:39:45,423
as well as the rocky hill
in which it was built.

647
00:39:46,102 --> 00:39:49,934
Irin Akinci began to vent
only part of the dungeon.

648
00:39:49,969 --> 00:39:53,768
It is believed that a wing similar to this,
it is "buried" on the other side.

649
00:39:57,496 --> 00:39:59,815
But what else is buried
under Istanbul?

650
00:40:02,241 --> 00:40:05,599
The infernal traffic problem
became the key to our discovery.

651
00:40:06,406 --> 00:40:09,229
how are you sir
Thank you very much...

652
00:40:09,264 --> 00:40:11,990
Murat Ozturk is one
among the most ambitious

653
00:40:12,025 --> 00:40:14,717
public transport designers in the world.

654
00:40:16,105 --> 00:40:18,516
Marble is a project
of 2.6 billion dollars

655
00:40:18,766 --> 00:40:21,149
which will add
over 320 km of tunnels

656
00:40:21,401 --> 00:40:23,184
to the already existing ones
in the underground of Istanbul.

657
00:40:24,638 --> 00:40:28,523
In the end, it will be the third
big metro in Europe,

658
00:40:28,558 --> 00:40:32,374
And it is expected that the traffic
to be fluidized by 40%.

659
00:40:32,409 --> 00:40:37,031
Ozturk took me 30 meters deep,
the equivalent of a ten-story building,

660
00:40:37,066 --> 00:40:40,346
in the underground of Istanbul.

661
00:40:43,330 --> 00:40:46,479
We build a world
in which 7-8 million people

662
00:40:46,514 --> 00:40:49,629
they can move underground
at the same time.

663
00:40:51,032 --> 00:40:53,868
But how do they manage to dig
without disturbing the past?

664
00:40:53,903 --> 00:40:56,601
The answer: digging deep.

665
00:40:57,487 --> 00:40:59,804
One of the richest layers
of the culture of the city

666
00:40:59,839 --> 00:41:01,801
belonging to the Byzantine Empire and the Turks

667
00:41:02,213 --> 00:41:06,975
was discovered at a depth
Between 2 and 20 meters below street level.

668
00:41:07,010 --> 00:41:08,031
So, the subway must be dug

669
00:41:08,066 --> 00:41:11,083
at a greater depth
20 meters or even more.

670
00:41:12,163 --> 00:41:14,505
In addition, a team of engineers
use the sonar

671
00:41:14,540 --> 00:41:16,813
to determine
where the ruins are buried,

672
00:41:16,848 --> 00:41:19,065
so that the subway route
to be mapped precisely.

673
00:41:19,504 --> 00:41:22,865
in a city like Istanbul,
you can meet something completely different

674
00:41:23,495 --> 00:41:25,897
every ten meters below the surface��.

675
00:41:25,932 --> 00:41:29,842
We must be prepared
let's find surprises.

676
00:41:29,877 --> 00:41:33,752
When you meet old walls,
change direction?

677
00:41:34,066 --> 00:41:39,078
If what you encounter is too big,
you have to change direction.

678
00:41:39,724 --> 00:41:40,637
To avoid this,

679
00:41:40,672 --> 00:41:43,118
the team of 80 archaeologists works quickly

680
00:41:43,153 --> 00:41:46,423
to safely remove
everything possible from the subway.

681
00:41:46,927 --> 00:41:50,171
When it comes to Istanbul,
archaeologists are our partners.

682
00:41:50,206 --> 00:41:54,902
They are a great help
for our heritage.

683
00:41:55,356 --> 00:41:58,322
while working on the Yenikapi subway,
a few kilometers away,

684
00:41:58,357 --> 00:42:01,384
the excavations have begun, but the archaeologists
working against the clock

685
00:42:01,419 --> 00:42:05,833
to remove one of the great discoveries
from the metro route.

686
00:42:05,868 --> 00:42:08,455
It is a discovery
really unexpected.

687
00:42:09,521 --> 00:42:13,848
Dr. Cemal Pulak, from the University
from Texas A and M, came to help.

688
00:42:14,269 --> 00:42:16,876
The main reason I came here,
is that one of the sonars

689
00:42:16,911 --> 00:42:19,168
discovered two shipwrecks.

690
00:42:19,203 --> 00:42:22,811
I came here two months ago,
And, since then, I have found three more.

691
00:42:22,846 --> 00:42:25,446
By tomorrow, maybe we have six.

692
00:42:25,481 --> 00:42:28,171
Dr. Pulak is an underwater archaeologist,

693
00:42:28,206 --> 00:42:30,508
specialized in ancient wrecks.

694
00:42:30,543 --> 00:42:33,924
Currently, Yenikapi is located
400 meters from the sea,

695
00:42:33,959 --> 00:42:37,305
but in the past it was part
from a great Byzantine port.

696
00:42:38,226 --> 00:42:41,961
We will descend four meters deep,
And we will return in a thousand years

697
00:42:41,996 --> 00:42:45,696
in Byzantine history, where it is
sea level in the 11th century.

698
00:42:46,934 --> 00:42:53,301
We are at the base of a Byzantine port,
from the end of the century X - the beginning of the century XI.

699
00:42:53,615 --> 00:42:56,076
Well, then, a thousand years ago,
now we would have noted.

700
00:42:56,111 --> 00:42:56,883
That's it.

701
00:42:58,432 --> 00:43:00,336
Cemal says it's probably a storm

702
00:43:00,371 --> 00:43:03,243
sank this merchant ship
in the 11th century.

703
00:43:04,897 --> 00:43:08,384
The big board in front of us

704
00:43:08,419 --> 00:43:11,764
it was immediately covered
by a protective layer of sand.

705
00:43:11,799 --> 00:43:14,409
As soon as the ship sank,
was covered

706
00:43:14,444 --> 00:43:17,494
and the people who lost their ship
even if they looked for her, they couldn't find her.

707
00:43:17,795 --> 00:43:21,559
Over time, the sand covered
the port, which became muddy.

708
00:43:22,095 --> 00:43:26,027
Then, of course, the land dried up,
And it was used for orchards or gardens.

709
00:43:26,062 --> 00:43:28,931
then the city appeared
And, until the 16th century,

710
00:43:28,966 --> 00:43:31,811
continued to be inhabited above,

711
00:43:31,846 --> 00:43:34,824
until the century 21st,

712
00:43:35,251 --> 00:43:38,653
and the people above didn't even know
that beneath them,

713
00:43:38,688 --> 00:43:40,660
there is a sunken ship.

714
00:43:40,964 --> 00:43:45,014
This is why the vessel was found
In the middle of the city, by chance.

715
00:43:45,245 --> 00:43:48,539
Due to the construction of the subway,
we probably have here

716
00:43:48,574 --> 00:43:52,554
a lost link of how
a ship was being built then,

717
00:43:52,589 --> 00:43:54,724
fa�� of our days.

718
00:43:54,759 --> 00:43:59,088
And this is one of
tens of thousands, millions of artifacts,

719
00:43:59,123 --> 00:44:01,630
which I just discovered
during the excavations.

720
00:44:01,665 --> 00:44:02,899
- That's it.
- Amazing.

721
00:44:02,934 --> 00:44:04,790
Incredible.

722
00:44:08,277 --> 00:44:12,599
27 centuries. Three empires.
A single historic peninsula.

723
00:44:12,888 --> 00:44:18,052
The land is saturated and the smallest
opening, even a crack in a cellar,

724
00:44:18,087 --> 00:44:19,809
can be an entry into one
among the unexplored layers

725
00:44:20,100 --> 00:44:21,792
of the undergrounds of Istanbul.

726
00:44:22,180 --> 00:44:26,054
It is a constant game for archaeologists,
engineers and architects,

727
00:44:26,089 --> 00:44:30,125
and this time, the game
it never ends.

728
00:44:30,160 --> 00:44:34,990
Over 2000 years in the future, this time
will begin to expand its subway,

729
00:44:35,025 --> 00:44:38,021
or will build the foundation
to a new hotel...

730
00:44:38,056 --> 00:44:41,286
starting the excavations a few meters away
under the then existing layer,

731
00:44:41,321 --> 00:44:43,969
they will reach the 21st century...

732
00:44:44,004 --> 00:44:46,355
They will also find what we have
did I leave behind?

733
00:44:47,618 --> 00:44:50,367
Translation and adaptation
niki and alex_wishmaster