HIPPODROME

The Hippodrome was the social and entertainment centre of Constantinople. Today the pleasant park on which it stood contains the 26m high Egyptian Obelisk, or Dikilitas, which stands in the northern section, was commissioned by Pharaoh Thutmose III and was originally erected at Deir el Bahri, south of Thebes, and brought to Constantinople by Constantine the Great. It was placed on a plinth, decorated with carvings depicting the Emperor attending a chariot race and awarding a crown of laurels to the victor. The bronze Serpent Column of three intertwined snakes,  which was brought to the city by Emperor Constantine the Great in c.330 AD, once stood in the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. It was originally cast to commemorate the defeat of the Persians at Plataea by the Greeks in 478 B.C. It was reputedly made from the shields of the defeated troops. Originally, the three snakes heads formed a tripod to support a golden cauldron, but sadly they have been decapitated. One of the snakes heads is stored in the İstanbul Archeological Museum but is currently not exhibited The 32m high Column of Constantine Porphyrogenitus has been described as the Colossus by historians, due to its similarity to the Colossus of Rodos. The fourth and last monument that remains in the park is the Fountain of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Alman Çeşmesi, which was built to commemorate the Kaisers second visit to the city in 1898.