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The Hippodrome of Constantinople (Ἱππόδρομος τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως) — now Sultanahmet Square (Sultanahmet Meydanı) — was the social and ceremonial heart of the Byzantine capital. It lies in the modern Sultanahmet district, within the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Historic Areas of Istanbul.
Overview of the Hippodrome of Constantinople
Construction of the Hippodrome began around AD 203 under Roman Emperor Septimius Severus. In AD 324, Constantine the Great renovated the structure and expanded its capacity — some ancient sources claim it once held more than 100,000 spectators, though modern estimates are more conservative. The U-shaped racetrack featured the Emperor’s box (kathisma) on the east side, directly connected to the Great Palace of Constantinople. On the north side stood a quadriga of four gilded copper horses, later looted during the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and taken to Venice. Today, they’re displayed at St. Mark’s Basilica as the Horses of St. Mark.
The Blues and the Greens were the two dominant chariot-racing factions, each aligned with different political interests. Their influence extended far beyond sport, shaping political, religious, and social life across the city. Huge riots — and sometimes even civil wars — broke out between their supporters. The most infamous were the Nika Riots in 532, during which an estimated 30,000 people were killed and much of the city burned to the ground. In the aftermath, Justinian ordered the construction of the third and current Hagia Sophia.
After the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453, chariot racing fell out of favor, and the Hippodrome was used only for special occasions. Over time, much of the structure was dismantled, with its materials repurposed for other construction projects. Today, visitors can still follow the outline of the ancient racetrack as they explore the surrounding monuments.
Remains of the Hippodrome of Constantinople
Today’s Sultanahmet Square largely follows the layout of the original Hippodrome. The course of the former racetrack is now paved with bricks, although the actual track lies about two meters below the present ground level.
You can explore remnants of the original Sphendone — the lower section of the curved end of the stands — by walking south of the racetrack. Some excavated seats and columns are displayed at the Istanbul Archaeology Museums, while others remain in place inside the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.
Surviving Monuments from the Hippodrome of Constantinople
Of the several monuments that once stood on the spina — the central barrier of the racetrack — only three survive today.
Walled Obelisk
The Walled Obelisk (Örme Dikilitaş) stands at the south end of the Hippodrome. Its original construction date is unknown, though it was restored by Constantine VII in the 10th century.
The Walled Obelisk rises 32 meters tall and is built from roughly cut stones. A Greek inscription is carved into its base, and a sphere once crowned the top. Its sides were once clad in gilded bronze plaques depicting the victories of Basil I, but these were looted and melted down during the Fourth Crusade. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Janissaries famously climbed the obelisk to demonstrate their bravery.
Serpentine Column
The Serpentine Column (Τρικάρηνος Ὄφις / Yılanlı Sütun) was erected at Delphi in 478 BC to commemorate the Greek victory over the Persian Empire at the Battle of Plataea the previous year. Constantine the Great had the column brought to Constantinople in 324 and installed it in the Hippodrome.
The Serpentine Column was once crowned with a golden bowl supported by three intertwined serpent heads. The bowl was stolen during the Fourth Crusade, and the rest of the monument remained intact until the serpent heads were knocked off — according to historical accounts — by a drunken Polish nobleman on October 20, 1700.
Obelisk of Thutmose III
The Obelisk of Thutmose III (Dikilitaş), also known as the Obelisk of Theodosius, was originally erected by Pharaoh Thutmose III in the 15th century BC outside the Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt. In 357, Roman Emperor Constantius II removed two obelisks from the temple — one was transported to the Circus Maximus in Rome and the other to Alexandria. In 390, Theodosius I had the Alexandrian obelisk brought to Constantinople and erected it in the Hippodrome.
The obelisk was originally 30 meters tall but now stands at 19.6 meters due to damage sustained in antiquity. It rests on a marble pedestal carved with bas-reliefs dated to 390 that depict scenes at the Hippodrome. The pedestal sits below today’s ground level, revealing the ancient elevation of Constantinople.
Two sides of the pedestal bear inscriptions. The Latin inscription on the east face reads:
DIFFICILIS QVONDAM DOMINIS PARERE SERENIS
IVSSVS ET EXTINCTIS PALMAM PORTARE TYRANNIS
OMNIA THEODOSIO CEDVNT SVBOLIQVE PERENNI
TER DENIS SIC VICTVS EGO DOMITVSQVE DIEBVS
IVDICE SVB PROCLO SVPERAS ELATVS AD AVRASFormerly reluctant, I was ordered to obey the serene lords and carry the palm of extinct tyrants. Everything yields to Theodosius and his everlasting offspring. So conquered and vanquished in three times ten days, I was raised to the lofty sky while Proclus was judge.
The Greek inscription on the west face reads:
KIONA TETPAΠΛEYPON AEI XΘONI KEIMENON AXΘOC
MOYNOC ANACTHCAI ΘEYΔOCIOC BACIΛEYC
TOΛMHCAC ΠPOKΛOC EΠEKEKΛETO KAI TOCOC ECTH
KIΩN HEΛIOIC EN TPIAKONTA ΔΥΩThe four-sided column, forever lying heavily on the ground, the emperor Theodosius alone dared to erect. He called on Proclus, and thus the column stood in two and thirty days.
On the north and south sides, you’ll find scenes of a chariot race as well as the erection of the obelisk.
Buildings around the Hippodrome of Constantinople
Several important Ottoman-period buildings now line the former Hippodrome racetrack.
German Fountain
At the north end of the Hippodrome stands the German Fountain (Alman Çeşmesi / Deutscher Brunnen). Built in Germany in 1900, it was gifted to the Ottoman Empire to commemorate Kaiser Wilhelm II‘s visit to Constantinople two years earlier.
The fountain is an octagonal structure topped by a dome supported by eight columns. Seven sides hold the basins and taps, while the south side features a short staircase. Gold mosaics decorate the underside of the dome. An inscription in German reads:
Wilhelm II Deutscher Kaiser stiftete diesen Brunnen in dankbarer Erinnerung an seinen Besuch bei Seiner Maiestaet dem Kaiser der Osmanen Abdul Hamid II im Herbst des Jahres 1898.
German Kaiser Wilhelm II endowed this fountain, in thankful remembrance of his visit in the autumn of 1898, to the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II.
A terrorist attack occurred near the fountain on January 12, 2016, when a suicide bomber approached a group of tourists and detonated explosives. 13 people were killed — 12 from Germany and one from Peru — and nine others were wounded. The attacker, Nabil Fadli, was a Syrian Turkmen affiliated with Islamic State who had entered Turkey as a refugee.
Recep Peker House
A wooden house belonging to Recep Peker (1889–1950), who served as Turkey’s prime minister from 1946 to 1947, stands at the southeast corner. It was designed by architect Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu (1888–1982) and built in the 1930s.
Marmara University Rectorate
At the south end of the Hippodrome stands the Marmara University Rectorate (Marmara Üniversitesi Rektörlük Binası). Built in the 1890s as an art school, it was designed in the Art Nouveau style by Italian architect Raimondo D’Aronco (1857–1932). The building occupies the site of the hospital, soup kitchen, and guesthouse of the Sultan Ahmed Complex (Blue Mosque), which were completed in 1620.
The building also houses the Marmara University Republic Museum and Art Gallery (Marmara Üniversitesi Cumhuriyet Müzesi ve Sanat Galerisi), dedicated to the history of the Turkish Republic. It’s open daily except Mondays, from 10am to 5pm, and admission is free (as of June 2025).
Ibrahim Pasha Palace
Continuing along the west side is the excellent Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, housed in the Ibrahim Pasha Palace. The museum and palace are covered in a separate post.
Kadastro Building
Finally, just to the north is the Kadastro Building (Kadastro Binası). Built in 1910 as the Ministry of Public Accounts (Defter-i Hakani Nezareti), it was designed by Turkish architect Vedat Tek (1873–1942) in the First National style and replaced an 18th-century structure used for the same purpose. The first courtyard contains the tomb of Server Dede (d. 1748), one of the ministry’s officials.
When it served as the Land Registry and Cadastre Directorate (Tapu ve Kadastro Müdürlüğü), the building contained about 120 offices. A cistern lies underneath, and the building now hosts the Hagia Sophia Experience.
Hagia Sophia Experience
The Hagia Sophia Experience guides visitors on a journey through the long history of Hagia Sophia. Several halls feature multimedia presentations tracing the building’s origins to the present, followed by a traditional museum displaying artifacts from the site. Tickets cost 25€ per person and are free for kids under 8 (as of June 2025). Visitors receive a headset in their preferred language, and the narration shifts automatically as the guide leads the group through each hall.
Artifacts from Hagia Sophia
The traditional museum exhibit begins with a timeline of Hagia Sophia, accompanied by several fragments uncovered during excavations in 1935.
Next, the exhibit highlights artifacts from after Hagia Sophia’s conversion into a mosque in 1453. These include prayer rugs, manuscripts from the Library of Mahmud I, and other objects.
Perhaps the most important item is Mehmed II’s endowment of Hagia Sophia, which later formed the legal and historical basis for the Turkish government’s decision to reconvert the building from a museum back into a mosque in 2020.
Christian Artifacts from Anatolia
The next gallery displays icons from Greek Orthodox churches abandoned after the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey. There’s also a small collection of icons from the Don Cossack churches in Manyas, Kocagöl, which were abandoned in 1962.
A small adjoining room displays a handful of reliquaries, along with a couple of hymnbooks and handwritten bibles.
The third and final room in the collection showcases historic vestments and liturgical items, including crosses, candlesticks, plates, chalices, and spoons. These pieces date from the 17th through the 19th centuries.
2020 Conversion of Hagia Sophia to a Mosque
Before leaving the museum, you’ll pass through a hallway dedicated to Hagia Sophia’s reconversion to a mosque in 2020. It features the Turkish presidential decree issued on July 10, 2020, and signed by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. This followed a July 2, 2020, decision annulling the cabinet’s November 24, 1954, decree that had designated Hagia Sophia as a museum.
There’s also a copy of the Holy Quran written by Hasan Rıza from the Topkapi Palace Library. It was presented to distinguished guests at the reopening ceremony of the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque on July 24, 2020.
My Thoughts on the Hagia Sophia Experience
While the presentation itself is impressive and entertaining, I don’t think it comes anywhere close to being worth the price of admission. The few artifacts related to Hagia Sophia are interesting, but I expected far more. As for the Christian artifacts, I feel as though the authorities were unsure what to do with the many icons and ecclesiastical items unwillingly left behind and dumped some of them here to fill empty space. Skip this museum, read about Hagia Sophia’s history elsewhere, and save your money.
