The Milion, the empire's mile zero

Look at that stone pillar, alone and rather battered, beside the pavement. Almost everyone walks straight past it, yet this was once the centre of the Byzantine world. It's all that remains of the Milion, the zero point from which the miles of every road in the empire were counted.

1An arch with a dome

Rome had its Golden Milestone in the Forum; Constantinople, the "new Rome", wanted its own. The Milion was no mere marker stone: it was a tetrapylon, an arch on four piers topped by a dome. According to the sources, statues of Constantine and his mother Helena holding a cross were set on top. Over time it filled with sculptures and paintings, and imperial processions passed beneath it.

2The street called Mese

From this arch ran the Mese, the "middle street", the great colonnaded avenue that crossed the city westwards. Today Divanyolu, where the tram runs, follows almost the same line. The Ottomans gave it that name because it led to the Divan, the sultan's council.

Streets, empires and names change; the line of a main avenue survives almost anything.

The Milion was still standing after the conquest of 1453, but it vanished in the early 16th century, probably when a water tower was built on the spot. It was forgotten for centuries, until excavations in 1967 and 1968, carried out when some houses were demolished, uncovered foundations and this fragment, which was set upright again.

3What to look for

• The pillar: a fragment of the original arch, not a full reconstruction.
• The foundations around it, well below today's ground level.
• Divanyolu avenue, which follows the route of the ancient Mese.