HIPPODROME

Description

Essentials about the Hippodrome in brief

The Hippodrome is the horse racing track of ancient Constantinople. For a long time it was the sporting and social center of the capital of the Byzantine Empire. In today’s Istanbul, the Hippodrome is largely covered by Sultan Ahmed Square, where only three elements of the former ancient complex can be seen: the Obelisk of Theodosius, the Serpent Column and the Stone Obelisk.

The architecture of the Hippodrome

The word “hippodrome” is derived from the Greek words “hippos” (meaning “horse”) and “dromos” (meaning “way, path”). Horse and chariot racing were popular pastimes in the ancient world, and hippodromes were widespread structures in Greek and Roman cities. Since the Constantinople facility had a spina (a central dividing line/wall), it was strictly speaking a Roman circus and not a Greek hippodrome.

The history of the Hippodrome

The first Hippodrome was built at a time when the city, under the name of Byzantium, was still a rather insignificant city in the Roman province of Thracia. After its destruction in the course of the civil war against his rival on the throne, the Roman emperor Septimius Severus rebuilt the city a little later, extended the perimeter of the walls and equipped the city with an arena for chariot races, the completion of which is placed in the year 203.

In 324 Emperor Constantine I decided to move the seat of government from Rome to Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinopolis (Constantine’s City). Under Constantine, “his” city underwent a significant expansion of its area and was provided with several new buildings, which included the construction of the new hippodrome. Constantine’s Hippodrome had a length of 429 meters and a width of 119 meters and could accommodate about 100,000 spectators. Following the model of the Circus Maximus in Rome, it was located in the immediate vicinity of the imperial palace so that the ruler could comfortably attend the events. In the time of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Hippodrome was the social center of the city. Large amounts of money were wagered on the horse races and the city was divided into fan camps that were often in bitter opposition to each other.

The racecourse had the shape of an elongated U. The emperor’s tribune, on the roof of which there was possibly a bronze statue of the emperor in a quadriga, was located approximately in the middle of the eastern side. The quadriga was kidnapped by the Venetians as spoils of war in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade, and its horses now stand as a copy on St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice (the originals, made of copper, are in the Museo di San Marco). The racecourse was decorated with numerous other bronzes, most of which stood on the center line (spina). They showed not only famous horse and chariot drivers, but also various mythological scenes. Only one of these works is preserved today, and that is the Serpent Column.

Constantinople never recovered from the effects of the Fourth Crusade. Although the Eastern Roman Empire continued to exist until 1453, the Hippodrome did not continue to be used, but fell into disrepair. The Ottomans, who conquered Constantinople in 1453 and made it the capital of their empire, showed no interest in horse racing. As a result, the Hippodrome slowly fell into oblivion. However, it was never built over in its entirety, which is why remains of the semicircle of brick masonry located in the south can still be seen today.

The buildings on the Hippodrome

General information

Visitors to the Hippodrome can see three preserved ancient monuments: The Obelisk of Theodosius, the Serpent Column and the Stone Obelisk. Since today’s Sultan Ahmed Square is about two meters higher than the former racecourse, the remaining ancient monuments protrude from depressions in the park-like grounds.

The Obelisk of Theodosius

The pink Obelisk of Theodosius was brought to Constantinople from the Temple of Karnak in Luxor under the emperor of the same name and erected in the center of the racecourse in 390. Originally it was more than 32 meters high, as tall as the Lateran Obelisk, which today stands in Rome in front of the Lateran Basilica. However, during the erection, the obelisk broke and today it is only 19.6 meters high. In order to maintain the original height, the obelisk stands on a marble pedestal that was remade and placed on the original pedestal after it broke.

The Serpent Column

The bronze Serpent Column was originally erected by 31 Greek cities to commemorate the Battle of Plataiai, directly in front of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. It is a column of three intertwined serpents whose heads once supported a tripod, a symbol of the cult of Apollo. Constantine I probably had the monument brought to Constantinople in 330. The tripod with its golden bowl was stolen during the Fourth Crusade and has been lost ever since. The heads of the snakes were cut off or fell off, but one of them was recovered in the middle of the 19th century. It is now on display in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum.

The Stone Obelisk

Before the Egyptian obelisk reached Constantinople, the obelisk built of stones already stood there. This was originally covered with golden plates, which were also stolen during the Fourth Crusade. The stone core stands today as the southernmost monument on the square of the Hippodrome.

The German Fountain

At the northern end of the square there is another, but much younger monument: the so-called German Fountain. It is an octagonal roofed fountain in the neo-Renaissance style. It was built in memory of the second visit of Emperor Wilhelm II to Constantinople in 1898, using parts manufactured in Germany.

Further buildings on the Hippodrome

The Hippodrome was never the object of systematic archaeological excavations, but some sporadic ones took place in the 20th century. Part of the southern curve of the racecourse was uncovered in the 1980s when houses built above it were demolished. In 1993, during construction work for a toilet facility near the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, some rows of seats and columns were discovered, which can be seen today in the mosque’s garden.