The Hippodrome was a long arena/racetrack, with three big columns in the center. This is the brazen column. It is believed to have been cased in bronze, which was then stripped off and stolen during the 4th crusade. It's not in the best shape because of that and because, apparently, the Janissaries used to climb it as a feat of bravery. I believe Constantine erected this tower.
This is the serpentine column, which originally had three serpent heads coming out at the top.
The next one is the Egyptian tower, which Theodosius put in. He took it from Egypt to erect here, but it broke on the way, so is only about a third of its original size. The base has carvings of him and his family at the races.
I would have liked to take a picture to show the length of the Hippodrome, but that's not really possible.
This dome is a fountain put in by Kaiser Wilhelm.
The Hippodrome was connected to the emperor's palace, and at one point there was a big riot, in which lots of people gathered in the Hippodrome and decided to crown their own king. The emperor Justinian wanted to flee, but his wife Theodora convinced him not to, so instead he sent his general out, and 30,000 people trapped in the Hippodrome were killed.
These pictures are from the Haghia Sophia, which was originally built as a church but later (after the Byzantine Empire was defeated) became a mosque. It was burned down twice, during riots and such, during the Byzantine. At some point, then, it was restored and the mosaics were uncovered. Most of them are Jesus with emperors and empresses. The whole place is very huge. On the wall above the balcony are hung large religious writings, which you can see in the third picture.
The Hippodrome was a long arena/racetrack, with three big columns in the center. This is the brazen column. It is believed to have been cased in bronze, which was then stripped off and stolen during the 4th crusade. It's not in the best shape because of that and because, apparently, the Janissaries used to climb it as a feat of bravery. I believe Constantine erected this tower.
This is the serpentine column, which originally had three serpent heads coming out at the top.
Our section of the city is Galata, the northeast peninsula, between the Bosphorous and the Marmara Sea. The first night, we hiked up the hill to Galata Tower, from which you can see all over the city.
This is my room in the dorms in Istanbul, including the view from my window. Even though there's a mosque right next door, we didn't hear the call to prayer this morning. The first one of the day happens at sunrise, which these days is about 5:30.
