<< Our Photo Pages >> Spiral Column - Carving in Turkey
Submitted by h_fenton on Friday, 11 July 2008 Page Views: 9141
Multi-periodSite Name: Spiral Column Alternative Name: Serpent Column, Serpentine Column, Delphi Tripod,Country: Turkey
NOTE: This site is 12.068 km away from the location you searched for.
Type: Carving
Nearest Town: Istanbul
Latitude: 41.005700N Longitude: 28.975150E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
Internal Links:
External Links:
I have visited· I would like to visit
Tdiver visited on 1st Jan 1994 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 5
h_fenton have visited here
Spiral Column is an ancient bronze column that stands in the Hippodrome (Atmeydani) in Istanbul. Currently it is about eight metres tall, but it used to be a little taller and was topped by three snakes heads with open mouths (also bronze). The snake heads supported a golden Tripod that was topped by a gold bowl
Following the Battle of Plataea (479BCE), which was the last of the Greco-Persian Wars, the Greek victors built a column in the form of three snakes twisted together to commemorate the 31 Greek city-states that took part in the war. Herodotus tells us that bronze from the Persian weapons was melted down and used to cast the bronze column. There was also a golden tripod with a bowl that accompanied the column, either standing over the column or supported by the three snakes heads.
In the 2ndCenturyCE the writer Pausanias the Traveler who visited Delphi and saw the spiral column said that the Phocian General Philomelus was taking treasures from the temple at Delphi to help pay for fighting the Third Sacred War (356 BCE– 346 BCE). The treasures which included the golden tripod he used to help pay for mercenaries that were recruited from neighboring greek states to fight on his side.
Sometime in the 4thCenturyCE, Constantine I (the great) moved the spiral column from Delphi to Constantinople along with the Amenhotep III Obelisk (from Egypt) to decorate the spina (central line) of the Hippodrome. In 1203-4 during the Forth Crusade a golden bowl from the top of the snakes head was removed, either melted down by the then emporer to pay the crusaders off as promised for getting him into power, or it was stolen by the crusaders when they got fed up with being messed about and sacked the city.
In 1453 after the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans, the sultan Mehmed II on entering the city struck one of the serpents shattering its jaw. The heads of the serpentas are thought to have been broken off in the late 18thCentury.
In 1855 the base of the column was excavated, 15 coils of the serpent had become buried. Between coils three and thirteen were written the names of the 31 greek city states that took part in the Greco-Persian Wars.
One head of a serpent (from the column) minus its lower jaw has been found and is on display in Istanbul Archaeological Museum
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.
Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.
Nearby Images from Flickr
The above images may not be of the site on this page, but were taken nearby. They are loaded from Flickr so please click on them for image credits.
Click here to see more info for this site
Nearby sites
Click here to view sites on an interactive map of the areaKey: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed
Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)
To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.
Turn off the page maps and other distractions
Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
43m NNE 29° Istanbul Amenhotep III Obelisk* Standing Stone (Menhir)
374m NE 39° The Basilica Cistern, Istanbul* Ancient Mine, Quarry or other Industry
461m NW 314° Column of Constantine* Standing Stone (Menhir)
795m NNE 33° Istanbul Archaeological Museum* Museum
1.3km WNW 290° Istanbul University Archaeological Museum Museum
1.6km WSW 258° Yenikapi Ancient Village or Settlement
20.4km W 279° Bathonea Ancient Village or Settlement
76.1km W 280° Çantaköy* Round Barrow(s)
85.7km SE 132° Dört Tepeler Chambered Tomb
91.1km SE 135° Berberkayasi Rock Cut Tomb
94.0km S 191° Aktopraklik Hoyuk Ancient Village or Settlement
96.2km SSW 195° Apollonia ad Rhyndacum* Ancient Village or Settlement
97.7km SSE 147° Barcin Tumulus Ancient Village or Settlement
107.9km W 270° Heraion-Teikhos* Ancient Village or Settlement
115.7km SW 234° Cyzicus Ancient Village or Settlement
122.8km W 269° Tekirdag Museum of Archaeology* Museum
124.6km SW 219° Daskyleion* Ancient Village or Settlement
128.4km SE 138° Bilecik* Ancient Village or Settlement
159.6km SSE 167° DeliklitaÅŸ Sculptured Stone
159.7km NW 325° Ancient Tsarevo Ancient Village or Settlement
166.3km WNW 299° Asagipinar* Ancient Village or Settlement
168.9km SE 139° Demircihoyuk Ancient Village or Settlement
173.4km WSW 248° Parion Ancient Village or Settlement
175.4km SSE 154° Seyitömer Höyük* Ancient Village or Settlement
176.5km NW 326° Beglik Tash* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
View more nearby sites and additional images