Originally was created
in front of the Temple of Apollo,
in Delphi (Greece),
8-meters (=26 feet) high,
to commemorate the naval victory of the Greeks..
against the Persians,
at the battle of Plataea,
in August, 479 B.C.,
as showing respect to Apollo for winning thanks:
The Bronze column..
Formed by THREE intertwined SNAKES,
Written the names of the 31 Greek cities that participated in the war on it,
Brought to Istanbul,
in the 4th century AD,
by the Emperor Constantine I,
to decorate the one of the biggest squares in the ancient world after Circus Maximus in Rome that is Sultanahmet Square, known as the Hippodrome of Constantinople, in the heart of the old town.
Thus life began in Dephi, then relocated in Constantinople in 324:
Do you like snakes? Me, no. Never interested in them.
Nobody enjoyed this statue in old times,
Everybody took a piece off,
Just thought the snakes as a representation of the devil,
Finally destroyed the 3-snake heads,
Today only 5.30 meters (=17 feet) high left!
The column without snake's heads in today's Istanbul,
After destruction is as seen above,
The Serpentine Column, Yılanlı Sütun as we call in turkish.
One of the oldest columns at the Hippodrome of Istanbul,
and one of the most documented ancient one with records dating back well before the birth of Christ!
in front of the Temple of Apollo,
in Delphi (Greece),
8-meters (=26 feet) high,
to commemorate the naval victory of the Greeks..
against the Persians,
at the battle of Plataea,
in August, 479 B.C.,
as showing respect to Apollo for winning thanks:
~pls click the photos to enlarge~
The Bronze column..
Formed by THREE intertwined SNAKES,
Written the names of the 31 Greek cities that participated in the war on it,
Brought to Istanbul,
in the 4th century AD,
by the Emperor Constantine I,
to decorate the one of the biggest squares in the ancient world after Circus Maximus in Rome that is Sultanahmet Square, known as the Hippodrome of Constantinople, in the heart of the old town.
Thus life began in Dephi, then relocated in Constantinople in 324:
Do you like snakes? Me, no. Never interested in them.
Nobody enjoyed this statue in old times,
Everybody took a piece off,
Just thought the snakes as a representation of the devil,
Finally destroyed the 3-snake heads,
Today only 5.30 meters (=17 feet) high left!
Only above piece of one of the heads is found during excavations and taken to the Archaeological Museum.
Believe it! At least 2,486 years old snake's head, the sources say.
Believe it! At least 2,486 years old snake's head, the sources say.
The column without snake's heads in today's Istanbul,
After destruction is as seen above,
The Serpentine Column, Yılanlı Sütun as we call in turkish.
One of the oldest columns at the Hippodrome of Istanbul,
and one of the most documented ancient one with records dating back well before the birth of Christ!
Week 26 and already Happy Halfway through.
We're heading into the second half of
www.istanbul2010.org
We're heading into the second half of
www.istanbul2010.org
I beleive that,historically,İstanbul is very important city,so ıt s possible to see many old civilization there,can be seen similar monuments in different areas,I congratulate for you to nice sharing with us.With my best wishes,stay well.
ReplyDeleteNihal, this is a very informative and nice post about Istanbul. Like you, I don't like snakes at all.
ReplyDeleteAbout the many many photos in our hard disk, I must say that often one can be undecided what to put in the blog: it's a curious phenomenon, the great deal of images may decrease to very few ones......! :-)
Happy Thursday