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Waters for a Capital The Water Supply Systems of Byzantine Istanbul/Constantinople: New Approaches and Methodologies


Curators: James Crow, Derya Maktav
Exhibition Design

“Water for a Capital” displays the greatest monuments to ancient water engineering, vast relics of a system of one of the longest and most extensive water channels ever constructed. The exhibition explains how archaeologists and scientists have been able to map and document these monuments for the first time. It provides new computer reconstructions of some of the greatest monuments and the opportunity to experience the thrill of discovery amongst the Thracian forests.

The broad deciduous forests in northern hills of Thrace conceal some of the greatest monuments to ancient water engineering, vast relics of a system of one of the longest and most extensive water channels ever constructed. Where did this water come from and how was it channeled and distributed in Istanbul? For the past twenty years Turkish water engineers and remote sensing experts together with British archaeologists have been able to investigate the sources of water and the course of the channels with some amazing and surprising results and discoveries.

Exhibition Design: Burçak Madran, Tetrazon Museum Exhibition Video Production