photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Dick Osseman | profile | all galleries >> Istanbul >> Regions - Bölgeler >> East of Atatürk Blv >> Arch of Theodosius tree view | thumbnails | slideshow | map

Regional Mosques | Near Yeni Camii - Yeni Cami yakında | Egyptian Bazar - Mısır Çarşısı | Sublime Porte - Babıali | Alay Köşkü | Gülhane Parkı | Mint - darphane | Sultan Ahmed III fountain - Ahmed III çeşmesi | At Meydanı - Hippodrome | Kiliçhane | Near Sultan Ahmet stop | Near Nurosmaniye | Istanbul Lisesi | Near Beyazıt Mosque stop | Covered Bazaar, Kapalı çarşı | Valens aqueduct | Armenian School | Vefa Lisesi | A small scale bakery | Near Ali Paşa Han (roughly Tahtakale) | Atif Efendi Library | Good boza-makery | Arch of Theodosius | Golden Horn Views | Renovation near the Süleymaniye mosque | Hoca Paşa Işhanı

Arch of Theodosius

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Forum of Theodosius (Greek: φόρος Θεοδοσίου, today Beyazıt Square) was an area in Constantinople. It was originally built by Constantine I and named the Forum Tauri ("Forum of the Bull"). In 393, however, it was renamed after Emperor Theodosius I, who rebuilt it after the model of Trajan's Forum in Rome, surrounded by civic buildings such as churches and baths and decorated with porticoes as well as a triumphal column at its center.
A marble triumphal arch was erected on the west side of the Forum, out of marble from Marmara Island. The triumphal arch had a vaulted roof with three passageways. The central archway of the three was wider and higher than the others and flanked by four-column piers carved in the form of Herculean clubs grasped by a fist. Built to mimic triumphal arches in Rome itself, on top was a central statue of Theodosius flanked by statues of his sons Arcadius and Honorius.
Today the main street beginning in Hagia Sophia Square runs to the west along basically the same route as the ancient Mese road, which formed the main artery of the old city. The Mese, passing through Theodosius's triumphal arch, continued on to Thrace and as far as the Balkan peninsula. The triumphal arch and the ancient buildings around it (to which surviving ruins in the area possibly belong) were destroyed as a result of invasions, earthquakes (the central arch and the statue of Arcadius collapsed already in 558; the rest of the arch was destroyed by another earthquake in 740) and other natural disasters from the 5th century onwards, and so were completely destroyed long before the Ottoman Turks took the city in 1453.
I here show some pictures of the remains. On one we see an area that seems to be prepared to hold a park, in it some remains that may be from the same arch. Maybe the authorities even plan to do some reconstructing there?
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5851.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5851.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5852.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5852.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5853.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5853.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5854.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5854.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5856.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5856.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5850.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5850.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5847.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5847.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5848.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5848.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5849.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5849.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5857.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5857.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5858.jpg
Istanbul Arch of Theodosius remains december 2015 5858.jpg