Sinan managed to blend the bearing and functional elements into a work of art. The first aqueduct Sinan built here was destroyed by violent floods (1563) so Sinan obviously went to greater lenghts in his second attempt.

The aqueduct, which is two storey, has 8 big partitions in the first storey and 8 little partitions in the second.

Of this monument a great part (971 meters) is still preserved, but appears much lower than in the Roman and Byzantine times, since the surrounding ground level has risen up to 6 m. The aqueduct transported water, which came from two different supply systems, over the little valley between the fourth and third hills of Constantinople.

It was finally stored in a great reservoir: the famous underground “Basilica Cistern”, one of Istanbul’s most popular touristic sites, where also a scene of the James Bond film “From Russia With Love” was shot. The aqueduct was completed at the time of the late Roman emperor Valens, but its plans were already made at the time of the Roman emperor Constantine The Great, who moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople (Istanbul) in 330 AD