Hippodrome of Constantinople

Stand in what is now Sultanahmet Square and try to imagine 100,000 people screaming at chariot races. This elongated plaza was once the Hippodrome of Constantinople — the sporting and political heart of the Byzantine Empire, where emperors watched races, citizens rioted, and the fate of dynasties was decided based on which team of horses crossed the finish line first. The Nika Riots of 532, which nearly toppled Emperor Justinian and left 30,000 dead, started here as a dispute between rival chariot-racing factions.

Three ancient monuments still stand on what was once the central spine of the racetrack. The Obelisk of Theodosius, carved from pink granite during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III around 1490 BC, originally stood at the Temple of Karnak in Luxor. Emperor Theodosius had it shipped to Constantinople in 390 AD and erected it on a marble base carved with scenes of the emperor watching races — the monument's own journey from Egypt to Turkey is arguably more dramatic than any race it witnessed.

The Serpent Column is even older. Cast in the 5th century BC from the melted-down weapons of defeated Persian soldiers, it originally stood at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. Three intertwined bronze serpents once supported a golden bowl at the top, but the serpent heads were broken off around 1700 — one surviving head is in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums. What remains is a 5.5-meter stump of ancient bronze that has outlived two empires.

The third monument, the Walled Obelisk, was originally sheathed in bronze plaques that were looted during the Fourth Crusade in 1204 — the same Crusade that sacked Constantinople instead of liberating Jerusalem, a fact that still annoys a lot of people. The original obelisk was about 35 meters tall, but only the top 20 meters survived the trip from Egypt. Even truncated, it has been standing here for over 1,600 years.