Column of Constantine

This guide to the Column of Constantine in Istanbul begins on May 11, 330, when Constantine declared his new capital and raised a towering bronze statue of himself atop a column of purple Egyptian stone, cast not as a Christian ruler but as the sun god Sol Invictus. It traces the legend that Christian relics, including a fragment of the True Cross, were buried in the column's foundation, and the tension between the emperor's pagan image and his Christian legacy. A quiet street corner still marks the spot where an empire staged its own founding.