Hippodrome

The Hippodrome of Constantinople (Turkish: Hipodrom) was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square in Istanbul, Turkey, known as Sultanahmet Square (Turkish: Sultanahmet Meydanı).

The word hippodrome comes from the Greek hippos (ἵππος), horse, and dromos (δρόμος), path or way. For this reason, it is sometimes also called Atmeydanı (“Horse Square”) in Turkish. The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a massive public arena that served as the heart of Byzantine social and sporting life for centuries.

Constructed in 203, during the reign of the emperor Septimius Severus, and expanded after 324 by Constantine the Great, it was about 130 meters wide and 450 meters long. The hippodrome could accommodate about 40,000-50,000 people. The Byzantine emperors loved nothing more than an afternoon at the chariot races, and this rectangular arena alongside Sultanahmet Park was their venue of choice.

The course of the old racetrack has been indicated with paving, although the actual track is some 2 m (6.6 ft) below the present surface. The surviving monuments of the Spina, the two obelisks and the Serpentine Column, now sit excavated in pits in a landscaped garden. The Hippodrome was the center of Byzantine life for 1000 years and continued to serve as a public gathering place throughout the Ottoman period.

The arena witnessed some of history’s most dramatic events, including the devastating Nika Riots of 532 AD when Emperor Justinian ordered the massacre of 30,000 people. Today, visitors can walk through Sultanahmet Square and see the surviving monuments that once decorated the central spina of this ancient racing venue.