1st Ramadan cannons

As we came out of Hagia Sophia it was almost dark, and we could see people gathering in the Sultan Ahmet park. This was the start of Ramadan, it was time for the cannons to go off for the first time.

I actually got quite emotional standing there together with all these people, knowing that a very special month was about to start for them. Having lived for so long now in Muslim countries, even if I'm not fasting or praying, I have come to enjoy the month of Ramadan. It's a time to slow down, reflect and reconnect.

Walking back to the hotel we passed the park with the old Hippodrome, once a Byzantine chariot racetrack capable of holding more than 100,000 people.

We had a closer look at the three monuments still standing here in the Hippodrome. The Obelisk of Theodosius was originally erected at one of the temples in Luxor, Egypt in the 15th century BCE; but was brought to Constantinople by Theodosius the Great in 390:

 

In the 10th century, Emperor Constantine built another obelisk at the other end of the Hippodrome, the Walled Obelisk. It was originally covered with gilded bronze plaques, but they were looted during one of the crusades, so today only the stone core remains.

Finally the base of the Serpent Column, a work brought by Constantine from Delphi, Greece, to be set here in the middle of the Hippodrome in 324. It dates back to the 5th century BCE and was initially cast to celebrate the victory of the Greeks of the Persians.
The column consists of three intertwined snakes and originally had three serpent heads at the top, but they were removed and some destroyed at the end of the 17th century. We saw one of them on display in the Archaeology Museum.

We then went out for dinner after having had our pre-drink in the sky bar of the hotel, just to admire the view, again again.

Lucas was hungry so he ordered a mixed grill. Amazingly enough he only needed a little bit of help from the rest of us (mostly because we wanted a taste), to finish this whole platter!

A little bit of sweet Turkish tea to finish the meal, and we called it a night. More sightseeing on the agenda for the next day!