Sultanahmet Square sits on the site of the ancient Hippodrome of Constantinople, built in the 3rd century AD by Roman Emperor Septimius Severus and later expanded by Constantine the Great. For centuries it was the civic and social heart of the Byzantine capital, hosting chariot races and public gatherings, and it now anchors Istanbul’s historic peninsula, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.
Three monuments from the original Hippodrome still stand in the square: the roughly 3,500-year-old Obelisk of Theodosius, brought from Luxor and re-erected here in the 4th century; the bronze Serpent Column, moved from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi to commemorate a Greek victory over the Persians; and a fountain built in the late 1890s to mark a visit by German Emperor Wilhelm II. The square sits directly between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.
Sultanahmet Square is a free, open-air public space with no admission fee or set closing time. Visitors typically spend one to two hours taking in the Hippodrome monuments and surrounding architecture. Early morning or late afternoon are the quietest times to visit, before or after the midday tour-group crowds arrive.
