What are the Medusa Heads?
Tucked into the north-west corner of the Basilica Cistern, two enormous Medusa heads serve as the bases of two ordinary columns. Carved from marble in the Roman period, they were brought here from an older structure and reused purely as building material when the cistern was raised.
What draws the crowds is their orientation: one head lies on its side, the other completely upside down. Nobody knows for certain why — theories range from simple practicality to a deliberate effort to neutralise Medusa's petrifying gaze.
