The hippodrome was an
immense construction 480 meters length and 117.5 meters
wide; it could seat, according to estimations one hundred
thousand spectators. It was build in 203 by the Emperor
Septimus Severus and later on Constantine the Great
extended and remodeled it.
As
Haghia Sophia was the center of religious life,
the hippodrome was the center of the civil
activities. The interests and passions of the
population was divided between theological
controversy and chariots races on the hippodrome.
Today you can only see some monuments where the
hippodrome was. If you are curios and want to
see how was the old Constantinople city center
click here ! The central line, or spina of the
hippodrome was marked by obelisks and columns,
three of which are still outstanding monuments
at Sultan Ahmet square (see picture bellow: the
red line is where the hippodrome was located,
behind it you can see the Blue Mosque and Saint
Sophia).
The
first monument is the Egyptian obelisk (first on
the left from the picture above). It was
originally commissioned by the pharaoh Thutmose
III (1549-1503 B.C.) who erected it at Deir el
Bahri opposite Thebes in upper Egypt to
commemorate one of his campaigns in Syria and
his crossing of the Euphrates river. It was
erected on its present site by Theodosius the
Great in 390 A.C. and at the bottom of it there
is a marble stone with some sculptured relieves
regarding Theodosius.
The
second monument is the Serpent column. The three
bronze serpents were the base of a trophy that
once stood at the temple of Apollo at Delphi. It
was dedicated to Apollo as a token of gratitude
by the 31 Greek cities which defeated in the
Persian battle Plataea (479 B.C.). The column
was probably brought from Delphi by Constantine
the Great.
The
third monument is a roughly build pillar of
stone 32 meters high dated around the 4th
century. It is know that the monument was
formerly reverted with gilded bronze plaques. In
1204, during the latin invasion, these plaques
were removed, melted down and minted.
