Column of Constantine

Known in Turkish as Çemberlitaş, this fire-scarred porphyry column was erected by Constantine the Great around 330 to mark the dedication of his new capital in a grand oval forum. Once crowned by a statue of the emperor and standing much taller, it has been battered by fire and earthquake, and is now bound by reinforcing iron hoops that give it its Turkish name, the hooped stone. Legend held that sacred relics were sealed within its base. Rising beside the tram line near the Grand Bazaar, it anchors one of the oldest imperial sites.