Forum of Constantine

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The Forum of Constantine was a Forum in the city of Constantinople.

History

The Forum of Constantine was built at the foundation of Constantinople immediately outside of the old city walls of Byzantium. It was circular in shape and had two monumental gates to the east and west. The Column of Constantine, which still stands upright and is known today in Turkish as Cemberlitas, was erected in the centre of the square.

The column was originally crowned with a statue of Constantine I, but a strong gale in 1150 caused the statue and three of the column's upper drums to fall, and a cross was added in its place by the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos. The cross was removed by the Ottoman Turks after the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

The Forum suffered major damage in a fire started by soldiers of the Fourth Crusade in 1203. After the Sack of 1204, the antique statues decorating the Forum were melted down by the Crusaders.

Database entry

Built on the city’s Second Hill to commemorate the glorious ascendance of Constantine the Great to the Roman throne, the Forum of Constantine, and the Column of Constantine at its center, also symbolized the birth of a new city from the ashes of another.

On May 11, 330, the city called Byzantium was no more, and Constantinople – or Constantinopolis, “City of Constantine” – was christened. Originally crowned by a statue of the god Apollo, the column has weathered many hardships and numerous renovations over the centuries.

By the time of the Ottomans, both the column and the original forum had shrunk considerably. But both remain a treasured part of the city’s history and character.