The Hippodrome

Historic · SultanahmetIstanbul,Türkiye

An Istanbul garden square sitting several metres above a buried Roman racetrack, with an Egyptian obelisk and a bronze serpent column from Delphi still standing.

The Hippodrome is now a long, quiet garden square in Sultanahmet, and it sits several metres above a buried Roman racetrack. What remains above ground are the monuments that once lined the central barrier. An Egyptian obelisk cut for Thutmose III points skyward, older than the city around it. A twisted bronze serpent column carried from Delphi stands in a sunken pit further along, and at the southern end the Walled Obelisk rises in bare masonry, stripped of the gilded bronze that once sheathed it. At the north end, where most people arrive, a domed marble kiosk called the German Fountain marks the square's newest layer. Septimius Severus laid the course out around 200 AD, and Constantine widened it into the centre of his new capital. For a thousand years chariots tore around a U-shaped track while tens of thousands roared from tiered stone seats, all of which have gone. The crowd split into rival colour factions, the Blues and the Greens, and their feuds ran from sport into politics; in 532 the Nika riots began here and left much of the city in ashes.

Worth knowing

Good to know

The ground you stand on is a rooftop — the original racetrack lies buried below, and the sunken pits dug around each monument drop you to its true ancient level.
The arena's skeleton still stands — walk around and below the curved southern end to find the sphendone, a towering arc of Roman brick arches that once held up the seating.
The Walled Obelisk lost its bronze skin — Constantine VII faced it in gilded plates showing his grandfather's victories; crusaders prised them off in 1204 and left the anchor holes.
The square's fourth side is a museum — İbrahim Paşa's sixteenth-century palace overlooks the track from the west and now holds the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.

Things to do

1
Stand where the front row sat
Walk south from the German Fountain to the rounded southern tip and back, roughly one circuit of the course. Excavators in 1952 found six rows of seating still in place, the lowest of them close to today's pavement, and struck the racetrack itself 4.46 metres further down. You are standing at front-row height.
2
Circle the obelisk base
Walk slowly around the four marble sides beneath the Egyptian shaft. Look for the emperor in his viewing box, the kneeling captives, and the crowd carved in neat rows. One panel even shows the obelisk itself being hoisted upright with ropes and capstans — a picture of this very spot at work.
3
Follow the serpents to the break
Crouch by the railing of the sunken pit and follow the three intertwined bronze bodies upward to where the necks break off short. Notice how the coils twist round one another in one tight spiral. Then picture the three missing heads craning above the race-day crowd as the chariots tore past below.