Sultanahmet Square
Public square built over the Byzantine Hippodrome's ancient track, lined with original obelisks.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul returns to January 532, when the rival Blues and Greens chariot factions of the Byzantine Hippodrome unified in revolt, chanting Nika, and drove Emperor Justinian to the brink of fleeing the city with a ship waiting in the harbor while rioters crowned a rival emperor in this very square. It follows Empress Theodora's refusal to board that ship, alongside the ancient monuments still standing here, the bronze Serpent Column from Delphi and the Obelisk of Theodosius from Karnak. Look for the empress this square has no monument to.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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