The Serpent Column

Lean over the pit and look at the twisted bronze column. Look closely and you'll make out three serpent bodies coiled around one another. It's the oldest monument in the city made by Greek hands, and one of the most laden with superstition.

1A war trophy from Delphi

In 479 BC the Greek cities defeated the Persians at the Battle of Plataea. From the spoils they cast a tripod of bronze and gold and dedicated it to Apollo at the sanctuary of Delphi. The serpents supported a golden cauldron, and the names of the 31 cities that had fought were engraved on their coils. That inscription can still be read on the lower coils. Eight centuries later, Constantine carried the column off to decorate his hippodrome.

2A talisman against snakes

Over time its origin was forgotten and the column came to be seen as a magical object. Ottoman writers claimed it protected the city from snakes.

One legend has it that Mehmed II himself knocked the jaw off one of the heads with a blow of his mace; other stories pin it on later sultans.

What is documented is that all three heads were still in place at the end of the 17th century. An Ottoman chronicler records that they fell one night in October 1700. One of them, missing its lower jaw, is kept in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums.

3What to look for

• The coils: count the rings and follow each of the three bodies with your eyes.
• The pit: it reveals the Byzantine ground level, several metres below today's.
• The broken top, where the heads once were.