Visit Istanbul Guide
The Hippodrome
The Hippodrome Istanbul visitors walk across without noticing was the chariot-racing arena of Byzantine Constantinople, and three of its monuments still stand on the spine of the old track. It is free, unticketed and takes twenty minutes, and it sits directly between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. The plan is on the Istanbul city guide homepage.
Quick answer Three monuments, and what each is
The Obelisk of Theodosius, Egyptian, carved for Thutmose III around 1450 BC and re-erected here in 390; the Serpent Column, cast from Persian shields after the battle of Plataea in 479 BC; and the Walled Obelisk, Byzantine and stripped of its bronze plates by crusaders. Free, always open.
Key takeaways
- The German Fountain at the north end was a gift from Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1900
- The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts faces the square at €17 and is usually empty
- This is the best twenty minutes in Sultanahmet that costs nothing
- It sits between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia
Key facts
Opening hours
| Public square | Always–— |
|---|
Closed None
Planning it
- Time needed
- Not stated; our routing: 20 minutes
- Address
- At Meydanı, Sultanahmet, Fatih
What is standing there
The Obelisk of Theodosius is the oldest object in Istanbul standing where it was put: pink granite cut for Thutmose III at Karnak, shipped here and raised on a carved marble base in 390 that shows the emperor watching the races from his box. The hieroglyphs are as crisp as the day they were cut, because the stone spent centuries buried.
The Serpent Column is a stump now, three intertwined bronze snakes that once held a golden tripod, cast from the shields of the defeated Persian army after Plataea in 479 BC and brought here from Delphi. It is the oldest Greek monument in the city.
The Walled Obelisk at the southern end looks crude because it was stripped: crusaders in 1204 tore off the bronze plates that once covered it.
The track itself is gone, but the square's long oval shape is the arena's, and the Sphendone — the curved retaining wall of its southern end — still stands, visible from the street below.
Hippodrome questions
Is the Hippodrome free?
Yes. It is a public square with no ticket, no gate and no opening hours.
What is left of the Hippodrome?
Three monuments from the arena's central spine — the Egyptian obelisk, the Serpent Column and the Walled Obelisk — plus the German Fountain of 1900 and the curved southern retaining wall, visible from the street below.
How long does it take?
Twenty minutes, which makes it the natural link between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia rather than a separate outing.
What was the Hippodrome, why was it important, and what happened to it?
It fell out of use after the Fourth Crusade sacked the city in 1204, and its stone was quarried for later buildings. The arena's oval outline survives as the shape of the square, along with three monuments from its central spine and the curved southern retaining wall below street level.
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