The Basilica Cistern - also known as “Yerebatan Sarnıcı” or The Sunken Palace is the largest several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul, Turkey. The cistern was built in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. (More information on the Cistern and its history can be found here.) - In the movie “From Russia With Love” Kerim Bey, head of Station T (Turkey), keeps a boat moored on the underground reservoir and daily rows over from a set of underground steps near his office to an observation post under the Russian consulate where he had an ex-Royal Navy telescope installed so he can spy on Russian security meetings.