Istanbul is a metropolis that forms the heart of two empires, first the Roman and then the Ottoman. You can discover traces of one of the greatest civilisations in history while wandering in this city, which was the capital of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire. Moreover, most of them are well preserved.
Serpent Column is one of the oldest and largest monuments from the Roman period of Istanbul to the present day.
The Story of Serpent Column
Declaring Istanbul as the capital, Constantine I built a hippodrome in the area known today as Sultanahmet Square to develop the city. The obelisks and columns you see there are the remnants of the monuments in the hippodrome.
Although there were many more columns, only Serpent Column, Knitted Column and the Obelisk have survived till the present. Serpent Column differs from the others with its story.
The story of the Serpent Column begins in the ancient city of Delphi in Greece. Here, the bronze column, designed as the monument of the victory of 31 Greek sites united against the Persians in ancient times, was dedicated to the god Apollo. The shape of a snake symbolises Apollo’s destruction of the evil Python. Later, the column was moved to Istanbul.
If you examine the column, you’ll see names inscribed between the folds of the body of the snake that belong to 31 Greek sites that participated in the war. Although the King of Sparta, Pausanias, wanted to have an article written that attributed the victory only to him when the piece was first made, after the reactions of the site kings, the piece took on its final look.
Mysteries of the Serpent Column
Like many columns in Istanbul during the Roman period, the Serpentine Column was believed to be a talisman. The column was thought to protect the city from war and natural disasters and these beliefs continued in the Ottoman period. Evliya Çelebi ??WHO IS THIS? wrote about the column: “The 17th talisman in Istanbul is a twisted pole. This pole shows the image of a three-headed dragon, but one of the heads is crushed because a janissary hit it with his sword. At that time, the talisman was partially damaged and animals like snakes, centipedes and scorpions spread throughout Istanbul.” Today, you can take a tram or bus to to Sultanahmet Square to visit the Serpentine Column, and let yourself be transported back in time.