Column of Constantine

Overview

Between Sultanahmet and the Grand Bazaar, the tram stops beside a tall, dark column bound with iron rings. Pigeons crowd its stone base, beside the tram stop. Yet this column marks the birth of a city. It is the Column of Constantine, raised when the Roman emperor Constantine the Great made Byzantium his new capital, Constantinople, in the year 330.

The Column of Constantine on the Old Main Street

To begin with, the column stands on Çemberlitaş Square, on the second-highest of the city’s seven hills. In Roman times, this was the oval Forum of Constantine, halfway along the Mese, the great avenue that ran from the palace to the city walls. Today, Divanyolu and the tram line follow roughly the same route. With a guide, join our Roman Istanbul tour. Our seven hills of Istanbul tour stops here.

History of the Column of Constantine

A bronze emperor in the sky

First, the column was finished around 328 and dedicated on May 11, 330, with both Christian and pagan ceremonies. It was made of huge drums of porphyry, the purple stone of emperors, with bronze laurel wreaths hiding the joints. On top stood a bronze statue of Constantine with a crown of sun rays, so the whole monument rose to almost 50 meters (164 feet).

Storms, crusaders and fire

In 1106, however, a storm threw down the statue and three drums. Later, Emperor Manuel I placed a cross on top instead, and in 1204 the crusaders carried off the bronze wreaths. Around 1515, the Ottomans added iron hoops to hold the cracked stone together, so the Turks called it Çemberlitaş, the hooped stone. In 1779, a fire blackened it, and it became known as the Burnt Column. Sultan Abdülhamid I repaired it and added the masonry base you see today.

Visiting the Column of Constantine

Today, the column stands right beside the Çemberlitaş stop of the T1 tram. Then look closely at the base: the original Roman platform lies about 2.5 meters (8 feet) below today’s street. On the same square stands the Çemberlitaş Hamam, built by Nurbanu Sultan in 1584.

On the Second Hill, Near the Grand Bazaar

The column stands on Çemberlitaş Hill, the second of the seven hills of the historic peninsula, which it shares with the Çorlulu Ali Paşa Madrasa and the Nuruosmaniye Mosque. From here, the Grand Bazaar is only a short walk away, with its 2,486 shops along 62 streets, 18 hans and 2 bedestens. The Çemberlitaş stop sits on the T1 tram line, which runs from Kabataş to Bağcılar, so the column is easy to reach from Sultanahmet or from the ferries at Eminönü.

We stop here on our walks from Sultanahmet to the Grand Bazaar. For the Roman city around it, see the Hippodrome of Constantinople, and for a historic bath on the square, read our guide to the Turkish bath. Just around the corner, finally, the Byzantine Şerefiye Cistern hides under Piyer Loti Street.