Hippodrome of Constantinople
Where 100,000 Romans once roared at chariot races, you are now standing on a city square.
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Constantine, who renamed the city Nova Roma, made the Hippodrome one of his major undertakings — expanding the track to roughly 450 metres long. The race layout is still legible: the U-shape of Sultanahmet Square traces the original circuit, and the obelisk that stood on the central spina survives, its base carved with reliefs showing the obelisk being raised. First built under Septimius Severus in AD 203, then massively enlarged in AD 324, this is over 1,800 years of continuous public ground.
What to look for
- The monolithic obelisk that decorated the spina (the track's central barrier) — its base carries relief carvings showing the obelisk being raised
- The sphendone: the curved southern end of the U-shaped stadium, whose lower section still survives in place
- The U-shape of the square itself — at 450 m long and 130 m wide, the chariot track's footprint defines the space you are walking through
Open public square with no entry fee; the surviving sphendone is at the southern end of Sultanahmet Square.
Hippodrome of Constantinople is one of 39 sights worth the detour in Istanbul, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Istanbul pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Istanbul
- Hagia SophiaCompleted in 537, it held the title of world's largest church for over 500 years — then a mosque, a museum, and a mosque again.
- Constantinople (Istanbul)One peninsula that served as the throne of four empires for sixteen centuries straight.
- Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque)Ahmed I placed it directly opposite Hagia Sophia in 1609 and gave it six minarets — a deliberate challenge to the city's greatest building.
- Topkapı PalaceFor nearly four centuries, the sultans who ruled the Ottoman Empire lived and governed from here — until the court finally moved to Dolmabahçe in 1856.
- ByzantiumGreeks from Megara planted a colony here in the 7th century BC — and the name they gave it eventually became the word for an entire empire.
- Rams Park (Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex)Galatasaray's 53,978-seat fortress on the European side of Istanbul — and the second most eco-friendly stadium on the planet.