Augustaion

thumb|right|250px|Map of the administrative heart of Constantinople. The Augustaion () or, in Latin, Augustaeum, was an important ceremonial square in ancient and medieval Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey), roughly corresponding to the modern Aya Sofya Meydanı (Turkish, "Hagia Sophia Square"). Originating as a public market, in the 6th century it was transformed into a closed courtyard surrounded by porticoes, and provided the linking space between some of the most important edifices in the Byzantine capital. The square survived until the late Byzantine period, albeit in ruins, and trac

Described at

Augustaion of Constantinople

The Augustaion was a central plaza near Hagia Sophia in Constantinople

thebyzantinelegacy.com →

The Augustaion (or Augusteum) was enclosed open space in Constantinople, situated south of Hagia Sophia . While the Augustaion changed over time, it was of great ideological and symbolic important, in part due to its connection with Hagia Sophia and the Great Palace. The Augustaion was a central location in Constantinople with many key monuments located in the vicinity. During the Constantinian era, it was a large open area adjacent to Hagia Sophia to the north, the Senate House and the Great Palace to the east, the Baths of Zeuxippus to the south, and the Basilica (now marked by the Basilica Cistern ) to the west. Just outside the Augustaion was the Milion, the milestone marking the beginning of the Mese, the great colonnaded main street of Constantinople. Later the the Patriarchate was built between Hagia Sophia and the Augustaion. Originally an agora known as the Tetrastoon, it is reportedly one of the older structures dating to the reign of Septimius Severus rebuilt or remodeled by Constantine . It was renamed in honor of Helena (the mother of Constantine the Great), who had been given the title Augusta. Constantine is said to have placed in it a statue of his mother Helena on a porphyry column. The region was severed damaged by fire during the Nika Riots in 532, requiring Justinian to rebuild the Augustaion, the Baths of Zeuxippus, the Senate House and Hagia Sophia. The Augustaion was subsequently considerably different from the original ceremonial space laid out by Constantine. It was now smaller and served as a restricted courtyard to the church of Hagia Sophia rather than as a public forum. The Senate House was also rebuilt by Justinian with a porch of six huge marble columns. The main feature of the Augustaion was a column crowned with a bronze statue erected in 543. In front of this column stood the statues of three barbarian kings in a posture of submission. This column replaced an earlier column with an equestrian statue of Theodosius I . There was also a column with a silver statue of Aelia Eudoxia (the wife of Arcadius) that seems to have been erected on the northeast side of the Augustaion, outside the Senate House. Its base has survived and is now located in the courtyard of Hagia Sophia.

Excerpt from a page describing this subject · 4,109 chars · not written by Vinony

Wikidata facts

Image: Ayasofya Meydanı 2025.jpg

Show 1 more fact

described at URL: www.thebyzantinelegacy.com/augustaion

Sources (1)

wikidata.org

via Wikidata · CC0

~6 min read

Article

6 sections

Contents

History
Location and description
Footnotes
References
Sources
External links

==History== The square dates back to ancient Byzantium, before its conversion into an imperial capital by Constantine the Great. When Roman Emperor Septimius Severus (r. 193–211) rebuilt the city, he erected a large square surrounded by porticoes, hence named the Tetrastoon ("four stoas"). In the center of the square stood a column with a statue of the god Helios. In the 320s, Constantine adorned his chosen new capital with many new monumental buildings. His activities included new structures around the Tetrastoon, while the Augustaion was likely carved out of its eastern part at that time, and named after a Porphyry column supporting a statue of his mother, the Augusta Helena. The Augustaion was rebuilt in 459 under Emperor Leo I (r. 457–474), and again in the 530s, after being destroyed in the Nika riot, by Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565). In its original form, the square was open to the public and functioned as the city's food market (agora), but after Justinian's reconstruction, it became more of an enclosed courtyard where access was restricted. Byzantine writers from the 7th century on refer to it as explicitly as a court or forecourt () of the Hagia Sophia.