The remnants of the ancient Roman Hippodrome now make a long central plaza near Aya Sofia....at one end there is a Byzantine column that was scavenged for its bronze covering plaques in the Ottoman Empire, so now it is mostly broken brick. At the other end is a fountain donated by Wilhelm II of Germany in the 19th century.... it has the symbol of the Ottomans sharing pride of place with the personal symbol of Wilhelm. In between the two ends are a magnificent column from ancient Egypt and a bronze "serpent" column. The Egyptian column was in Karnak, built around 1500 BC The top third or so was brought to Constantinople in the fifth century AD.. it is huge... and only the top third of the original.
One amusement of the day was that our group was enlisted by a local TV station to dance a Turkish dance on the grounds of the Hippodrome. It was apparently a very slow news day... but much fun was had! There was vigorous rehearsal and then the money performance. There is talk about the group trying out for America's Got Talent, but I'm not super hopeful!
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