as Apollo on top The column was dedicated on May 11, 330 AD, with a mixture of
Christian and
pagan ceremonies. In Constantine's day the column was at the centre of the
Forum of Constantine (today known as Çemberlitaş Square), an oval forum situated outside the city walls in the vicinity of what may have been the west gate of Antoninia. On its erection, the column was 50 meters tall, constructed of several cylindrical
porphyry blocks. Monolithic porphyry columns were more common, and some Byzantine sources refer to Constantine's monument as such, but in reality this construction technique was made impractical by the column's great size. The joins between them were masked by sculptured laurel wreaths. The orb was said to contain a fragment of the
True Cross. At the foot of the column was a sanctuary which contained relics allegedly from the crosses of
the two thieves who were crucified with
Jesus at
Calvary, the baskets from the loaves and fishes miracle, an alabaster ointment jar belonging to
Mary Magdalene and used by her for anointing the head and feet of Jesus, and the
palladium of ancient
Rome (a wooden statue of
Pallas Athena from
Troy). Bronze reinforcements had to be added the column as early as 416 and it sustained fire damage in the 5th and 6th centuries. A strong gale in 1106 AD felled the statue and three of the upper cylinders of the column. Some years later,
Byzantine emperor
Manuel I Komnenos (reigned 1143–1180) placed a cross on top in place of the original statue and added a commemorative inscription that read "Faithful Manuel invigorated this holy work of art, which has been damaged by time". During the
Sack of Constantinople in 1204,
Latin Crusaders stole the bronze wreaths which had covered the joints between the drums. The cross was removed by the
Ottoman Turks after the
fall of Constantinople in 1453. Earthquakes and a fire in 1779 destroyed the neighbourhood surrounding the column, leaving it with black scorch marks and earning it the name 'Burnt Column' (or, according to
Gibbon, 'Burned Pillar'). The column was restored by
Abdülhamid I, who had the present masonry base added. The base was strengthened in 1779. The original platform of the column is 2.5 meters (about 8 feet) below ground. Restoration work has taken place intermittently since 1955. Cracks in the porphyry were filled and metal brackets renewed in 1972. Further restoration work took place in the years leading up to 2010. Since 1985, the monuments of the
historic areas of Istanbul, including the Column, have been listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. == See also ==