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971
meters of the originally more than 1-km aqueduct which carried water
to Constantinople until the end of the 19th Century still stands
today. At its highest point, the aqueduct reaches a height of 29
meters. Of this monument a great part (971 meters) is still
preserved, but appears much lower than in the Roman and Byzantine
times, since the surrounding ground level has risen up to 6 m. The
aqueduct transported water, which came from two different supply
systems, over the little valley between the fourth and third hills
of Constantinople. It was finally stored in a great reservoir: the
famous underground "Basilica Cistern", one of Istanbul's most
popular touristic sites, where also a scene of the James Bond film
"From Russia With Love" was shot. The aqueduct was completed at the
time of the late Roman emperor Valens, but its plans were already
made at the time of the Roman emperor Constantine The Great, who
moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople
(Istanbul) in 330 AD. |