Forum of Theodosius

In 393, however, it was renamed after Emperor Theodosius I, who rebuilt it after the model of Trajan's Forum in Rome, surrounded by civic buildings such as churches and baths and decorated with a triumphal column at its centre.

[4] Its column, decorated with relief sculpture depicting this emperor's victory over the barbarians, was surmounted by a marble effigy.

[5] An internal spiral staircase allowed technicians to reach the top of the column (a stylite monk lived there towards the end of the mid-Byzantine period).

The column remained standing until the end of the 15th century, and some pieces of it were re-used in the construction of the Beyazıt Hamamı (Bath of Patrona Halil).

[6] Excavations for the foundation trenches of the Faculty of Letters and Sciences of Istanbul University uncovered the remains of three basilicas.

The central archway was wider and higher than the other two and flanked by four-column piers carved in the form of Herculean clubs grasped by a fist.