Home » Things To Do »
This was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultan Ahmet Square with a few fragments of the original structure surviving. Throughout the Byzantine period, the Hippodrome was the centre of the city’s social life.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Serpent_Column_%288394621182%29.jpg)
The surviving monuments of the Spina (the middle barrier of the racecourse), the two obelisks and the Serpentine Column, now sit in holes in a landscaped garden.
![](https://i0.wp.com/cdn.madeinturkeytours.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/information-viruses-infections-when-visiting-turkey.jpg?w=1150&ssl=1)