52 Week Photography Project
November 2024 Edition
45-Does this look right?— Just curious
This upside down Medusa head serves as the base for a marble column in Istanbul’s Basilica Cistern.
This stone carving was salvaged from a Greek temple and repurposed for use in the Cistern, which is a marvel of Roman-Byzantine engineering.
Built in 542 CE by Emperor Justinian, the Cistern is the size of nearly two football fields and was filled via aqueduct with up to 30 feet of water in order to provide a reliable water supply to what was then Constantinople.
The base of an adjacent column also uses a Medusa head for its base, though that figure is turned on its side.
In Greek mythology, Medusa was a woman with live snakes for hair. She was so hideous that anyone who looked at her would turn to stone.
So why the inverted Medusa?
The leading theory is that by placing her upside down, Medusa’s powers were negated, thus onlookers wouldn’t be turned to stone.
46-Opposites attract — Interpret that as you will.
