Hippodrome

The Hippodrome in Constantinople was the city’s equivalent of Rome’s Circus Maximus. It was built in the year 330, and was used until the mid-1800s. The site is now Istanbul’s Sultanahmet Square. The obelisk in the middle of this image was moved in the year 390 from Karnak and can still be seen today.

Image: “The Hippodrome, Constantinople” by John Foster (c. 1811-1813). From the Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection