Hippodrom/ Atmeydanı

A Stage For Istanbul's History

The Hippodrome was the largest and one of the most significant buildings in Byzantine Constantinople. Located in the heart of the city beside the Great Palace, it was not only an arena for chariot races -the most exciting and popular spectator sport from the 4^th to the 7^thcentury- but also a place where emperors were created, military victories celebrated, and rulers collectively acclaimed by the people. Atmeydanı, on the other hand, became one of the most important and lively public spaces of Ottoman İstanbul.

The Hippodrome/ Atmeydanı: Istanbul’s Stage of History exhibition catalogue examines this very special and colorful square of the city, which has also hosted a variety of consequential incidents during the foundation of the Republic, through artefacts, architectural drawings, photographs and daily life objects, and takes the Istanbulites on a tour of their city’s different recollection spanning from the 4^th to the 20^th century.

Date of Publication: 2010
Number of pages: Vol. 1: 371 / Vol.2: 351
ISBN: 978-975-9123-70-3

Volume 1

7 Foreword
Suna, İnan & İpek Kıraç

8 Introduction
Brigitte Pitarakis

28 Imperial Power and the Arena of the Other

49 Entertainment at the Hippodrome

82 The Architecture and Archaeology of the Hippodrome

193 Ancient Myths and Urban Legends: The Statues of the Euripos

212 Rediscovering the Hippodrome

213 Catalogue

242 Part 1: The Hippodrome in History

287 Part 2: The Architecture and Archaeology of the Hippodrome Area

345 Select Photographs of Archaeological Work in the Hippodrome from the Encümen Archive of the İstanbul Archaeological Museums

359 Catalogue Abbreviations

372 Folders

Volume 2

7 Foreword
Suna, İnan & İpek Kıraç

10 Atmeydanı: The Problematic of a Cross-Cultural Venue
Ekrem Işın

17 Atmeydanı
Doğan Kuban

32 Ottoman Architecture in Atmeydanı and its Environs
Baha Tanmam – A. Vefa Çobanoğlu

71 Festivities in Atmeydanı
Özdemir Nutku

96 The Representation of a Festivity in Atmeydanı: The Pictorial Language of Classical Age Ottoman Miniatures
Uşun Tükel

111 İbrahim Paşa and Sculpture as Subversion in Art
Filiz Yenişehirlioğlu

128 The First Ottoman Exhibition Building in Atmeydanı and the Collaboration of Architects Bourgeois – Parvillée – Montani
Nurcan Yazıcı

152 Henri Prost, Albert Gabriel, İstanbul Archaeological Park and the Hippodrome
Pierre Pinon

169 Catalogue

171 1453-1533 Atmeydanı: A Historical Rubble Area

175 1524-1620 Sultans, Festivities and Buildings

241 19^th-20^th Centuries
Atmeydanı: Lines, Colors, and Photographs

317 1863 Sergi-i Umumî-i Osmani

337 1909-1919 On the Verge of a Fall: Incidents and People

347 1902-1937 Dreams and Plans for Modern Times

Hippodrom/ Atmeydanı

The Hippodrome was the largest and one of the most significant buildings in Byzantine Constantinople. Located in the heart of the city beside the Great Palace, it was not only an arena for chariot races -the most exciting and popular spectator sport from the 4^th to the 7^th century- but also a place where emperors were created, military victories celebrated, and rulers collectively acclaimed by the people.