Sultanahmet Square

Just steps from the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque in the heart of the Old City is Istanbul’s Hippodrome of Constantinople, or Sultanahmet Square. This square was historically a circus used as a sporting center for chariot racing and social gatherings during the Byzantine Empire. It is also home to the Obelisk of Thutmose III, which was brought by Emperor Theodosius the Great from the Temple of Karnak in Luxor, Egypt in 390 AD.