Istanbul's Basilica Cistern on silver screen with 'Inferno'

Istanbul's Basilica (Yerebatan) Cistern, will be on the silver screen all around the world thanks to the film adaptation of Dan Brown's thriller "Inferno." 
The film, which was directed by Ron Howard and premiered in Florence on Oct. 8, will be released in Turkey on Oct. 14. 

U.S. writer Dan Brown released "Inferno" in 2013. 

The novel mysterious events begin in Florence before moving to Sienna and on to Istanbul, where the hero of the book, Robert Langdon, played by Tom Hanks in the film, makes an important discovery in the Hagia Sophia museum.

The Basilica Cistern, one of the magnificent historical sites in Istanbul, is located just southwest of the Hagia Sophia. 

The huge underground cistern, which was built in 542 by Byzantine emperor Justinian I, provided water to the grand palace where the emperors lived during the Byzantine Empire. It was later used after the conquest of Istanbul by the Ottomans in 1453. 

The gardens of Topkapı Palace were also irrigated with water from the cistern, which in the 20th century was opened to visitors as a museum by the Istanbul Municipality after restorations.

In order to prevent any damage to the historic structure, the scenes at the Basilica Cistern were shot in a film studio in Budapest. The Basilica Cistern, which has been included in a number of films over the years, also hosted some scenes of the latest James Bond series "Skyfall" as well as Australian actor Russell Crowe's film "The Water Diviner." 

Hanks, the smartest guy in the room

At a recent news conference in Florence's Palazzo Vecchio, actor Hanks said the real draw for him to reprise his role as fictional symbologist Robert Langdon was the chance to be "the smartest guy in...