The Column of Constantine (; ; ) is a monumental column commemorating the dedication of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

emperor

Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

on 11 May 330 AD. Completed , it is the oldest Constantinian monument to survive in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. The column stood in the centre of the

Forum of Constantine The Forum of Constantine (; ) was built at the foundation of Constantinople immediately outside the old city walls of Byzantium. It marked the centre of the new city, and was a central point along the Mese, the main ceremonial road through the c ...

, on the second-highest of the seven hills of ''Nova Roma'', and was midway along the ''Mese odos'', the ancient city's main thoroughfare. Ottoman repairs in c. 1515 added iron reinforcing hoops to the shaft. The column was consequently given the Turkish name Çemberlitaş (from ' 'hooped' and ' 'stone'), which also 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 A divan or diwan (, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan''). Etymology The word, recorded in English since 1586, meaning "Oriental cou ...

'), the two streets connecting Sultanahmet Square with

Beyazıt Square Beyazıt Square () lies to the north of Ordu Caddesi in the district of Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey. Officially named ''Freedom Square'' (), it is more generally known as Beyazıt Square after the early Ottoman Bayezid II Mosque on one side. The s ...

and roughly following the course of the old ''Mese odos''. The Roman street led eastward to the

Augustaion The ''Augustaion'' () 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 Square"). ...

, the

Hippodrome Hippodrome is a term sometimes used for public entertainment venues of various types. A modern example is the Hippodrome which opened in London in 1900 "combining circus, hippodrome, and stage performances". The term hippodroming refers to fr ...

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...

, the Baths of Zeuxippus, and the

Chalke Gate The Chalke Gate (), 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 gilded bro ...

of the Great Palace. To the west it led through the

Forum of Theodosius The Forum of Theodosius (, today Beyazıt Square) was probably the largest square in Constantinople and stood on the Mese, the major road that ran west from Hagia Sophia ( Turkish: Ayasofya). It was originally built by Constantine I and named t ...

to the Philadelphion and the

walls of Constantinople The Walls of Constantinople (; ) are a series of defensive wall, defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (modern Fatih district of Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire b ...

. In Constantine's Forum itself the emperor established the original home of the Byzantine Senate. 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 (, ) is a Roman victory column located in Piazza Colonna, Rome, Italy. A Doric column adorned with a detailed spiral relief, it was built in honor of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and modeled after Trajan's Colu ...

in Rome; its size approached or exceeded the height of the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

(48 m) and the internal height of the Pantheon (43 m) in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. 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 A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

ceremonies. In Constantine's day the column was at the centre of the

(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. Monolithic porphyry columns were more common, and some Byzantine sources refer to Constantine's monument as such, but in reality this construction technique was made impractical by the column's great size. The exact number of porphyry blocks is disputed, but common figures range from seven, up to as many as eleven. The joins between them were masked by sculptured laurel wreaths. At the summit of the column was a bronze 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. It comprises a number of na ...

and holding a spear and orb. Its appearance probably referred to the

Colossus of Rhodes The Colossus of Rhodes (; ) was a statue of the Greek sun god Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes, on the Greek island of the same name, by Chares of Lindos in 280 BC. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it was constructed to ...

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, acros ...

in Rome; all resembled the solar deities

Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; ; Homeric Greek: ) is the god who personification, personifies the Sun. His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") an ...

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

. The orb was said to contain a fragment of the

True Cross According to Christian tradition, the True Cross is the real instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, cross on which Jesus of Nazareth was Crucifixion of Jesus, crucified. It is related by numerous historical accounts and Christian mythology, legends ...

. At the foot of the column was a sanctuary which contained relics allegedly from the crosses of the two thieves who were crucified with

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Calvary Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...

, the baskets from the loaves and fishes miracle, an alabaster ointment jar belonging to

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

and used by her for anointing the head and feet of Jesus, and the

palladium Palladium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1802 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas (formally 2 Pallas), ...

of ancient

(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 o ...

from

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

). A 16th-century drawing by Melchior Lorck records a now-lost relief sculpture on the north part of the column base: the symmetrical composition centers upon an emperor's bust within a laurel wreath, flanked by two Victories and surrounded by humbled

barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

offering tribute. 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 known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

emperor

Manuel I Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos (; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized as Comnenus, also called Porphyrogenitus (; " born in the purple"), was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history o ...

(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". During the

Sack of Constantinople The sack of Constantinople occurred in April 1204 and marked the culmination of the Fourth Crusade. Crusaders sacked and destroyed most of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. After the capture of the city, the Latin Empire ( ...

in 1204, Latin Crusaders stole the bronze wreaths which had covered the joints between the drums. The cross was removed by the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

after the

fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...

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 Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical forests from eastern Bangladesh and Northeast Indi ...

, 'Burned Pillar'). The column was restored by Abdülhamid I, 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. It includes buildings and structures such as the Saray ...

, including the Column, have been listed as a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

References

Bibliography

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External links

Reconstruction of the Forum of Constantine in Istanbul

The Burnt Column, Constantinople, Turkey
{{Authority control 328 establishments 4th-century establishments in the Byzantine Empire 4th-century Roman sculptures Buildings and structures completed in the 4th century Colossus of Rhodes Cultural depictions of Constantine the Great Fatih Monumental columns in Istanbul Outdoor sculptures in Istanbul Constantine

Description

History

See also

References

Bibliography

External links