Lonely Planet İstanbul Guide

MUSEUM MUSEUM OF GREAT PALACE MOSAICS ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; % 0212-518 1205; http://ayasofyamuzesi.gov.tr/en/museum-great-palace mosaics; Torun Sokak; admission ₺ 15; h 9am-7pm mid-Apr–Sep, to 5pm Oct–mid-Apr, last entry 30min before closing; j Sultanahmet) Abdül Hamit’s tuğra (calligraphic signature) and the first letter of Wilhelm’s name, representing their political union. The immaculately preserved pink granite Obelisk of Theodosius ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Atmeydanı Caddesi; j Sultanahmet) in the centre was carved in Egypt during the reign of Thutmose III (r 1549–1503 BC) and erected in the Amon Re temple at Karnak. Theodosius the Great (r 379–95) had it brought from Egypt to Constantinople in AD 390. On the marble podium below the obelisk, look for the carvings of Theodosius, his wife, his sons, state officials and bodyguards watching the chariot-race action from the kathisma (imperial box). South of the obelisk is a strange column coming up out of a hole in the ground. Known as the Spiral Column ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Atmeydanı Caddesi; j Sultanahmet) , it was once much taller and was topped by three serpents’ heads. Originally cast to commemorate a victory of the Hellenic confederation over the Persians in the battle of Plataea, it stood in front of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi (Greece) from 478 BC until Constantine the Great had it brought to his new capital city around AD 330. Though badly damaged in Byzantine times, the serpents’ heads survived until the early 18th century. Now all that remains of them is one upper jaw, which was discovered in a basement of Aya Sofya and is housed in the İstanbul Archaeology Museums. After sacking Aya Sofya in 1204, the soldiers of the Fourth Crusade tore all the plates from the Rough-Stone Obelisk ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Atmeydanı Caddesi; j Sultanahmet) , at the Hippodrome’s southern end, in the mistaken belief that they were solid gold (in fact, they were gold-covered bronze). The Crusaders also stole the famous Triumphal Quadriga (team of four horses cast in bronze) and placed it atop the main door of Venice’s Basilica di San Marco; replicas are now located there, as the originals were moved into the basilica for safekeeping.