Hippodrome
The original Hippodrome was built in 203 AD by the Roman Emperor Septimus Severus. when Constantine the Great chose Byzantium as his new capital, he reconstructed and enlarged it with beautiful peaces which were brought from different places of the Roman Empire.
Today it is possible to see the Egyptian Obelisk, Serpentine and Constantine Columns. According to the excavations carried out, the hippodrome was 117 m / 384 ft wide and 480 m / 1575 ft long with a capacity of 100,000 spectators.
Hippodrom was used for the chariot races. Chariots were drawn by either 2 or 4 horses here and representing one of the four political groups, later on these four colors were united in two colors; the Blues and the Greens.. Each group was represented by a color. The Blues were the upper and middle classes, orthodox in religion and conservative in politics. The Greens were the lower class and radical both in religion and politics. One of these political divisions ended with a revolt. It was named after people’s cries of “Nika” which meant “win” and caused the death of 30,000 people in 531 AD.
In 1204, the hippodrome was destroyed by the Crusaders. The Ottomans called the place Horse Square and used it as a place to train their horses. The only three remaining monuments from the original construction are theEgyptian Obelisk which the Roman governor of Alexandria sent to Theodosius I in 390 AD, the Serpentine Column which was erected in front of the Apollo Temple in Delpi, was brought by Constantine I in 4C AD and the Constantine Column from the 4C or 5C AD.
