All you ever wanted to know about Istanbul’s Hippodrome
While the Hippodrome was central to Byzantine social life, the Hippodrome continued to exist after the 1453 conquest because the Ottomans also saw the square as a perfect place to hold their own unique horse-related games. Thanks to a recent exhibition and accompanying book, people can see what the Hippodrome may have looked like in ancient times, along with its development in subsequent eras.
Anyone who has traipsed around Istanbul’s historic peninsula on the way to the Hagia Sophia or the Blue Mosque cannot have failed to come across the large, rectangular stretch of land that constitutes the Hippodrome.
For decades this space was nothing more than a dusty plain with a few decorative, almost nondescript pillars devoid of explanation. It was known as the Hippodrome where the ancient Romans and Byzantines used to have horse races (in modern times made famous by Charlton Heston in the movie “Ben Hur,” an adaptation from the book written by Lew Wallace, the United States’ ambassador to the Ottomans in the 19th century) and gladiatorial games of varying sorts. The square was also renowned for its political riots that nearly unseated Emperor Justinian, builder of the Hagia Sophia.
The square survived after the Ottoman conquest of 1453 because the new rulers saw the value of using the space for their own games, usually played on horseback. As a result, the square acquired the name Atmeydanı, or Horse Square. In addition, parades and festivities, such as those depicted in the miniatures of the 1582 Surname-i Murat III, were also held there. The space further played a part in political actions taken against later sultans because it was a convenient place for rebels to gather.
Now, thanks to the generosity of the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation, the Istanbul Research Institute and the Pera Museum, people can see what the Hippodrome may have looked like in its heyday and its progression through the various eras thereafter.
"Hippodrome/Atmeydanı: A Stage for Istanbul's History" is an exhibition that opened this week at the museum and will provide a start-to-finish pictorial tour of the space until April 18.
In tandem with the exhibition, a splendid, two-volume set of books has also been published in both Turkish and English under the same name as the exhibition. The set includes a number of articles related to the Hippodrome, as well as a catalog for the exhibition. The book certainly ranks among the most outstanding, comprehensive publications ever published for an exhibition and is one of those collections of material that provide all the information you ever wanted to know about the Hippodrome and likely much more that you have not even thought about.
In the foreword to the set, Suna, İnan and İpek Kıraç pay tribute to the Istanbul Research Institute whose research departments for the Ottoman and Republican periods facilitated the work. “We are happy to honor this very special and colorful square of Istanbul, which has hosted a variety of consequential incidents during the foundation of the Republic, with this exhibition that opens in 2010, the year Istanbul becomes the Culture Capital of Europe.”
The material has been collected under the general editorship of Brigitte Pitarakis, a researcher and writer on the Byzantine period. Because one can only see the masonry obelisk – whose origin is unknown – the Serpent Column and the Egyptian obelisk today, she says few can imagine the splendor and size of the original Hippodrome.
Throughout the Byzantine period, the Hippodrome was used for horse races between factions although this practice was discontinued under the Ottomans, who preferred to play cirit (a form of polo).
Volume one of the research deals particularly with the Byzantine period and reconstructions of what the Hippodrome might have resembled.
Pitarakis says much of the Hippodrome was still standing when the Ottomans conquered the city – apart from many metal statues and other ornamentation that had been melted down during the conquest of the city by 13th century Crusaders.
The books divides the Byzantine period into five sections: Imperial Power and the Arena of the New Rome, Entertainment at the Hippodrome; The Architecture and Archaeology of the Hippodrome; Ancient Myths and Urban Legends: the Statues of the Euripos; and Rediscovering the Hippodrome. The last section deals with the accounts of Western travelers between the 15th and 17th centuries.
Regarding the Istanbul Research Institute and Pera Museum, Pitarakis says, “[The institutes] seek to undertake exhibitions that highlight the major buildings, monuments and spaces of Istanbul that span the Byzantine and Ottoman periods and continue to make a significant contribution to the cultural richness of the Republic of Turkey.”
Meanwhile, part of the book’s visual material was provided by A. Tayfun Öner through 3-D representations of what the Hippodrome might have resembled in its former brilliance based on remains from the area found at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum and the garden of the Blue Mosque.
Öner worked with available archaeological reports, recent surveys, visual records, and the literary contributions of Byzantine writers and historians and travelers to ancient Istanbul.
His representations are so realistic that one could almost imagine being right in the middle of the Hippodrome – requiring only a few charioteers and a roaring crowd to whisk one back in time.
In fact, there are small statutes that represent some of the people that might have performed in the arena, as well as frescoes depicting charioteers in a church in Kiev.
If one thus fails to see the exhibition, there is always the two-volume set and with outstanding reproductions of colored miniatures and photographs.
The only problem is that each of the two is heavy and the thought of taking them around the exhibition is rather daunting. Nonetheless, the tomes are marvelous reference books that will stir up many memories of Istanbul’s historic peninsula.
(Hurriyet Daily News Friday, February 19, 2010)
Visiting Hours
Tuesday - Saturday 10.00 - 19.00
Sunday 12.00 - 18.00
Museum is closed on Mondays.
Special Days
Museum, with sugar and on the first day of Kurban bayram is closed on New Year's holiday
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34443 Tepebaşı - Beyoğlu - İstanbul
Tel. + 90 212 334 99 00
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Şunu daha büyük bir haritada görüntüle: Pera Museum (Pera Müzesi)
The Hagia Sophia of Istanbul Sultanahmet
Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia is indeed the best example of a place which provides a precise and an authentic division of the eastern and the western cultures. The location on the map shows the point where two opposite cultures come together violently.
Going by the location of Hagia Sophia on the map, the name of the country is Turkey and the city is Istanbul (earlier known as Constantinople). The Hagia Sophia(‘Holy Wisdom’ in Greek), which has been the bone of contention between the Western and the Eastern worlds for nearly one and a half millennium lies on a small Peninsula somewhere in the Black Sea.
The present building of Hagia Sophia that we see today in the city of Istanbul (earlier name Constantinople) is the third structure erected at the same place. The original structure was commissioned to be built under the instructions of Constantine the Great. However, it was damaged in the riots of 404 A.D. that took place in Constantinople.
The second church was inaugurated in 405 A.D. by the Emperor Theodosius II. However, it was burnt to ashes in the famous bloody Nika riots in 532 A.D.
The third church or the present building is yet another architectural masterpiece highlighting its cultural and violent history. It is much more grand than the previous ones. This was built under the instructions of Emperor Justinian I between 532 A.D. and 537 A.D. on the location where the two previous churches were built.
Talking about the architecture excellence of this final building of the Eastern Roman Empire, it is worth mentioning that the Hagia Sophia (Church of the Holy Wisdom of God) is a brilliant example of Byzantinian architecture and it amalgamates the elements of both, namely the Eastern and the Roman architecture in a beautiful manner.
There is a heavy use of natural lighting that floods the building through the windows. Bricks and plaster has been used instead of stones while the sculptures have been replaced by mosaics. The domes of the church rest on the giant piers.
The most prominent and dominating feature of the Hagia Sophia was its dome. The dome rests on square piers by using a new technique called a pendentive. The windows of this building have been placed around the base of the sphere, thereby creating dazzling lighting effects, much to the awe and surprise of the visitors. The visitors get the impression that the dome is placed on very less support.
The fact that the Hagia Sophia had been the hot target of the enemies of Rome authenticates its importance as a live example of the rich architecture of ancient times to which it belongs.
Going by the historical records, it was during the Fourth Crusade that several sacred relics were smuggled from the church by western crusaders between 1202 and 1204 when Constantinople was attacked and looted. A number of these sacred relics looted from the Hagia Sophia can still be found in Italy’s St. Mark’s Basilica.
Then nearly two decades later in 1453, Constantinople was named Istanbul after it was conquered by Ottoman emperor Sultan Mehmet el-Fatih, the man who conquered the Ottoman Empire. Mehmet was totally smitten by the beauty of the Hagia Sophia and was firm not to destroy it. So, instead of destroying the relics of the so called ‘infidels’, he decided to convert this church into an imperial mosque. This seemed to be quite simpler for him to as there was no need to change even the name of the building as ‘Church of the Holy Wisdom’ sounded a perfect name for a mosque.
So, all the old Christian inscriptions as well as mosaics were removed and replaced with befitting Muslim mosaics, designs and motifs. However, no changes were made in the original architecture of the structure barring some minor repairs so as to keep the original architecture completely intact. The control of Hagia Sophia came in the hands of Arabs who controlled the entire Turkey. Constantinople was given a new name of Istanbul.
Hence, the conversion of a Christian Basilica into an Arab Mosque and then later into an Arab Mosque exemplifies the combination of Eastern and Roman architecture in this Byzantinian masterpiece of architecture which is an inspiration for many centuries.
There were no major changes in the Hagia Sophia until the previous century. It was in 1934 that Kemal Ataturk, the president of Turkey, decided to convert the church into a museum due to the reason that the church had been the bone of contention between the Western and the Eastern world for centuries together.
So, he took a bold decision and decided to secularize the power of the church by converting it into a public museum. Thus, the museum could now exhibit Muslim and Christian collections with equal ease. This was done to make the structure of Hagia Sophia free from all sorts of political or other controversies.
Still, there is much controversy involving the building of Hagia Sophia and there are a number of people who want to display the Christian relics and mosaics hidden beneath the Arab artifacts at certain places in the Hagia Sophia. However, the general view is that there is a need to find a middle path in order to put a full stop on the religious controversies involving the structure.
At present, the Hagia Sophia, after its conversion into a museum, is a secular building displaying relics of Christian and Muslim religions, thus putting a long tale of conflicts and controversies to a rest at peace.
