The Column of Constantine ( tr, Çemberlitaş Sütunu; el, Στήλη του Κωνσταντίνου Α΄; la, Columna Constantini) is a
monumental column built for
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
emperor
Constantine the Great to commemorate the dedication of
Constantinople on 11 May 330 AD. Built c. 328 AD, it is the oldest Constantinian monument to survive in
Istanbul and stood in the centre of the
Forum of Constantine. It occupies the second-highest hill of the
seven hills of Constantine's
''Nova Roma'', the erstwhile
Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' con ...
, and was midway along the
''Mese odos'', the ancient city's main thoroughfare.
The Turkish name
Çemberlitaş, from ' 'hooped' and ' 'stone', was applied after repairs by the
Ottomans in c. 1515, who added iron reinforcing hoops to the shaft, and came to refer to the surrounding area.
The column stands at the point where Yeniçeriler Caddesi ('Street of the Janissaries') joined the Divan Yolu ('Road to the
Divan'), the two streets connecting Sultanahmet Square with
Beyazıt Square and roughly following the course of the old ''Mese odos''. The Roman street led eastward to the
Augustaion
The ''Augustaion'' ( el, ) or, in Latin, ''Augustaeum'', was an important ceremonial square in ancient and medieval Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey), roughly corresponding to the modern ''Aya Sofya Meydanı'' ( Turkish, "Hagia Sophia Squa ...
, the
Hippodrome,
Hagia Sophia, the
Baths of Zeuxippus
The Baths of Zeuxippus were popular public baths in the city of Constantinople. They took their name because they were built on a site previously occupied by a temple of Zeus,Gilles, P. p. 70 on the earlier Greek Acropolis in Byzantion. Constructe ...
, and the
Chalke Gate
The Chalke Gate ( el, ), was the main ceremonial entrance ( vestibule) to the Great Palace of Constantinople in the Byzantine period. The name, which means "the Bronze Gate", was given to it either because of the bronze portals or from the gild ...
of the
Great Palace. To the west it led through the
Forum of Theodosius to the
Philadelphion
The Philadelphion was a public square located in Constantinople.
Location
After passing the Forum of Theodosius, the Mese Odos (the main road of Constantinople) branched into two directions. One led to the quarter known today as Yedikule, ...
and the
walls of Constantinople. In Constantine's Forum itself the emperor established the original home of the
Byzantine Senate
The Byzantine senate or eastern Roman senate ( el, Σύγκλητος, ''Synklētos'', or , ''Gerousia'') was a continuation of the Roman Senate, established in the 4th century by Constantine I. It survived for centuries, but the senate's powers ...
.
The column stands right beside the Çemberlitaş stop on the T1 tramline.
Description
The column shaft is composed of very large
porphyry column drums set on a white marble pedestal that is no longer visible.
Its top is 34.8 m above the present-day ground level. Estimates of the original height of the column, without the statue that stood on the top, vary between 37 and 40 m; the monument as a whole would have been nearly 50 m tall. It may have been the largest Roman honorific column of all, rivalled only by the later
Column of Theodosius in Constantinople, now demolished. Constantine's Column was taller than
Trajan's Column and the
Column of Marcus Aurelius
The Column of Marcus Aurelius ( la, Columna Centenaria Divorum Marci et Faustinae, it, Colonna di Marco Aurelio) is a Roman victory column in Piazza Colonna, Rome, Italy. It is a Doric column featuring a spiral relief: it was built in honour ...
in Rome; its size approached or exceeded the height of the
Colosseum (48 m) and the internal height of the
Pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...
(43 m) in
Rome.
Today the column is held together with metal bands and popular as a place to perch with local pigeons.
History
The column was dedicated on May 11, 330 AD, with a mixture of
Christian and
pagan ceremonies.
In Constantine's day the column was at the centre of the
Forum of Constantine (today known as Çemberlitaş Square), an oval forum situated outside the city walls in the vicinity of what may have been the west gate of Antoninia. On its erection, the column was 50 meters tall, constructed of several cylindrical
porphyry blocks. The exact number of porphyry blocks is disputed, but common figures range from seven, up to as many as eleven.
The column was surmounted by a statue of Constantine, probably nude, wearing a seven-point
radiate crown
A radiant or radiate crown, also known as a solar crown, sun crown, Eastern crown, or tyrant's crown, is a crown, wreath, diadem, or other headgear symbolizing the sun or more generally powers associated with the sun. Apart from the Ancient ...
and holding a spear and orb. Its appearance probably referred to the
Colossus of Rhodes
The Colossus of Rhodes ( grc, ὁ Κολοσσὸς Ῥόδιος, ho Kolossòs Rhódios gr, Κολοσσός της Ρόδου, Kolossós tes Rhódou) was a statue of the Greek sun-god Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes, on the Greek isla ...
and to the
Colossus of Nero
The Colossus of Nero (''Colossus Neronis'') was a bronze statue that the Emperor Nero (37–68 AD) created in the vestibule of his Domus Aurea, the imperial villa complex which spanned a large area from the north side of the Palatine Hill, acr ...
in Rome; all resembled the solar deities
Helios or
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
. The orb was said to contain a fragment of the
True Cross. At the foot of the column was a sanctuary which contained relics allegedly from the crosses of
the two thieves
The Penitent Thief, also known as the Good Thief, Wise Thief, Grateful Thief, or Thief on the Cross, is one of two unnamed thieves in Luke's account of the crucifixion of Jesus in the New Testament. The Gospel of Luke describes him asking Jesus ...
who were crucified with
Jesus Christ at
Calvary
Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early mediev ...
, the baskets from the loaves and fishes miracle, an alabaster ointment jar belonging to
Mary Magdalene and used by her for anointing the head and feet of Jesus, and the
palladium of ancient
Rome (a wooden statue of
Pallas Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...
from
Troy).
Bronze reinforcements had to be added the column as early as 416 and it sustained fire damage in the 5th and 6th centuries.
A strong gale in 1106 AD felled the statue and three of the upper cylinders of the column. Some years later,
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
emperor
Manuel I Komnenos (reigned 1143–1180) placed a cross on top in place of the original statue and added a commemorative inscription that read "Faithful Manuel invigorated this holy work of art, which has been damaged by time". Bronze wreaths once covered the joints between the drums, but these were stolen by the Latin Crusaders who plundered the city during the
Fourth Crusade in 1204. The cross was removed by the
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
after the
fall of Constantinople in 1453.
Earthquakes and a fire in 1779 destroyed the neighbourhood surrounding the column, leaving it with black scorch marks and earning it the name 'Burnt Column' (or, according to
Gibbon, 'Burned Pillar'). The column was restored by
Abdülhamid I
Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid I ( ota, عبد الحميد اول, ''`Abdü’l-Ḥamīd-i evvel''; tr, Birinci Abdülhamid; 20 March 1725 – 7 April 1789) was the 27th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigning over the Ottoman Empire from 1774 to ...
, who had the present masonry base added. The base was strengthened in 1779. The original platform of the column is 2.5 meters (about 8 feet) below ground.
Restoration work has taken place intermittently since 1955.
Cracks in the porphyry were filled and metal brackets renewed in 1972. Further restoration work took place in the years leading up to 2010.
Since 1985, the monuments of the
historic areas of Istanbul
The Historic Areas of Istanbul are a group of sites in the capital district of Fatih in the city of Istanbul, Turkey. These areas were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.
This World Heritage Site includes buildings and structures s ...
, including the Column, have been listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
See also
*
Roman architecture
*
List of museums and monuments in Istanbul
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
Reconstruction of the Forum of Constantine in IstanbulThe Burnt Column, Constantinople, Turkey
{{Authority control
Monumental columns in Istanbul
Constantine
Fatih
Cultural depictions of Constantine the Great
Buildings and structures completed in the 4th century
4th-century Roman sculptures