The Hippodrome of Constantinople | Sultanahmet Square of Istanbul
Blue Mosque and Obelisk in Sultanahmet Istanbul Old City
Seeing people enjoying their Sunday afternoons on the calm lush green lawns of Hippodrome, it is quite difficult to believe that this is the same place where numerous royal celebrations, chariot races and deadly massacres took place many centuries ago.
And when the park is adorned with white lights during the month of Ramadan along with elephant rides arranged for kids, all the signs of its complex past are completely wiped away. It has been aptly named as ‘At Meydani’ or ‘Sultanahmet Meydani’ (Horse Square or Horse Grounds in Turkish) due to its function in the Ottoman period.
The word hippodrome owes its name to the two Greek words namely ‘hippos’ meaning horse and ‘dromos’ meaning racing path or track. The face that the favorite pastimes of the people in the ancient times were chariot racing and horse racing made hippodromes a peculiar and prominent feature of almost all the Greek cities in the Byzantine, Roman and even the Hellenistic periods.
The first Hippodrome was built in the Greek times when the city was called Byzantium. The Hippodrome was the heart and soul of not just the political life but also the sporting life of Constantinople (the city of Constantine the Great). It was a Greek stadium that was a venue for several horse races as well as polo games on the track built by Septimus Severus between 203 A.D. and 324 A.D.
Constantine the Great enlarged and renovated the Hippodrome that was modeled on Rome’s the Circus Maximus. He used several stone walls and vaults for providing support. The Hippodrome continued to be a scene of riots and games in the 500 years of the history of Ottoman Empire.
The only difference between the two hippodromes was that just four chariot races could be organized at a time in the Roman Circus while the Greek hippodrome had the capacity to hold more than ten races at a time as the size of the latter was larger than the former, measuring nearly 400 feet.
The Hippodrome was nearly 427 feet wide and 1476 feet long. It had 40 rows of seats and a capacity of accommodating nearly 100,000 supporters. Due to political rivalries between the various merchant guilds including Greens, Blues, Reds and Whites. The result was the Nika Revolt in 532 A.D. which eventually caused extensive damage to the Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) Church and the imperial palace.
More than 30,000 people were massacred as a punishment on the orders of Justinian the Great after he regained power. Later on during the Fourth Crusade, the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453. These Turks had simply no interest in horse racing and did not bother to do any restoration efforts for the Hippodrome. Instead, they started using the Hippodrome as a marble quarry and the Hippodrome was forgotten slowly and gradually.
During its peak glory, the Hippodrome was adorned with a huge collection of historical monuments and trophies that were either made by skilled artisans of the city or brought from different corners of the Ottoman Empire.
The Column of Constantine or the Walled Obelisk (Magnetic Column/the Colossus) is located at the southern corner of the park. It was built on the instructions of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in the 10th century and was decorated with brass plates and bronze plaques. However, these embellishments were melted to mint coins in 1204 by the Crusaders.
Situated at a short distance away is the Serpentine Column originally erected in front of Delphi’s Temple of Apollo by Greek city-states to celebrate their win over the Persians. However, the column is only 25 percent of its original size of 8 m. the column is made of bronze and has three intertwined serpents. Earlier, it had a gold bowl that was provided support by heads of three gold serpents. However, the heads were believed to have been lost until one head was rediscovered during the restoration work of the famous Ayasofya.
Another outstanding monument of architecture in the city happens to be the Obelisk of Tutmosis III. The obelisk weighing 60 tons was brought by Emperor Theodosius I. it is made of granite with hieroglyphics depicting the glory of the god Horus and the pharaoh. It was brought to the square in 390 A.D. nearly two millennia after the time of its carving. Almost two-third of the obelisk was damaged or lost during transportation. At present, the obelisk is nearly 65 feet high.
In the north corner of the Hippodrome lays the Fountain of Willhelm II, also known as Alman Cesmesi. It was built originally in Germany and later on assembled in the city of Istanbul to mark the emperor’s city visit in 1895. One can find the signatures of Sultan Abdulhamid and the German monarch in golden mosaics inside the dome of the fountain.
The statue of four bronze horses happened to be the crowning glory of the Hippodrome. However, it was looted and taken away to the Basilica of St. Marco in Venice during the lootings in the city in the Fourth Crusade in 1204.
Another exquisite monument of historical architecture located in the northern corner of the Hippodrome is the Million Stone. Modeled on the Millaiarium Aureum, it was erected by Julius Caesar in Rome.
The Hippodrome was a favorite venue for numerous important and lavish occasions including circumcision ceremony of Sultan Ahmed III’s sons which spanned for days together.
Greek Side of Istanbul
Istanbul is a perfect place to be visited and explored by the visitors for its history and architecture. The city has not one but a number of historical city structures including palaces, churches, mosques and towers to boast that evidence numerous foreign influences on the soil of this city throughout the history.
According to sufficient historical evidence, the most ancient and the oldest civilization in Istanbul was Greek. Way back in 685 B.C., the inhabitants of Megara, an ancient Greek town, decided to settle in Chalcedon, which is now in Kadikoy district. The main aim behind their settlement in Chalcedon was to make Bosphorus as a medium for trading between the Black Sea and the Greek polities. However, in 667 B.C., the city of Byzantion was found when Greek King Byzas succeeded in his efforts to colonize the European side of the Bosphorus.
Leander’s Tower and the Serpentine Column happen to the two finest examples of the Greek architecture. Considered to be the oldest surviving Greek monument of Istanbul, the Serpentine Column is nearly 2,500 years old. This ancient monument was built in the honor of the victory of the Greeks over their rivals, namely the Persians, at Plataea.
Originally located at Delphi, the monument was moved in 324 B.C. by Constantine the Great to Istanbul for declaration of the new capital, Constantinople, of the newly found Roman Empire. The three serpents which provided support to the golden bowl were approximately eight meter in height. Although, the golden bowl is now lost or probably stolen during the sacking of the city in the Fourth Crusade.
Moving on to the next example glorifying the brilliant Greek architecture is Leander’s Tower also known as Maiden’s Tower. This tower is located in the Bosphorus. The tower was built by an Athenian general in the 408 B.C. in order to stop the ships belonging to the Persians along the Bosphorus shores.
According to yet another story, this tower was built by a sultan to save his daughter from a snake after it was predicted by an oracle. However, as fate would have it, the sultan gifted his daughter a fruit basket on her 18th birthday which had a snake hiding beneath the fruits. One can reach the tower by taking a small boat from the nearest shore and enjoy the food served in the romantic restaurant in this tower.
After the fall of Rome in 476, the glorious Roman Empire was merely reduced to the Byzantine Empire. For being the hub of orthodox Greek Christianity and being Greek in culture, the capital city of Byzantine Empire, namely Constantinople, had a number of churches including the most famous, Hagia Sophia or Ayasofya. Ayasofya was once a largest Christian church in the world.
Under the Byzantine rule, a number of other churches were built. Some of the important among these include the Church of St. Savior in Chora and Pammakaristos Church, now in the Fatih district.
A number of city structures were damaged in 1453 when the capital of the Byzantine Empire was conquered by the Ottoman Empire under the leadership of Sultan Mehmed II. Mehmed was mainly concerned with re-structuring the defenses of the city and went on to work towards making Istanbul prosperous. So, he ordered all the Greeks and Armenians, Jews as well as Slavs to return to the city to help re-shape the city by using their special skills.
As per a census report of 1477, inhabitants of nearly 9486 houses were Muslims, while other inhabitants including Greeks occupied 3743 houses, Jews 1647 houses, Christians 267 houses and Gypsies lived in 31 houses. So, this indicated that every third house was inhabited by a Greek signifying an important role of Greeks in the economic, social and political life of Istanbul. Thus, the Greek community’s leader went on to become the ecumenical patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church.
The Greek High School for boys had become a popular educational institute for teaching orthodox clergy and Ottoman bureaucracy. Other famous educational institutes include Yoakimyon High School for girls and Marasli Greek Elementary School that exist even now. So, the list of Greek footprints in Istanbul is quite long and seems unending. Take a trip to Fener to discover the Greek connection.