The column stood in the centre of the Forum of Constantine, on the second-highest of the seven hills of Nova Roma, and was midway along the Mese odos, the ancient city's main thoroughfare.

The Roman street led eastward to the Augustaion, the Hippodrome, Hagia Sophia, the Baths of Zeuxippus, and the Chalke Gate of the Great Palace.

Estimates of the original height of the column, without the statue that stood on the top, vary between 37 and 40 m; the monument as a whole would have been nearly 50 m tall.

Today the column is held together with metal bands and popular as a place to perch with local pigeons.

[1] At the summit of the column was a bronze statue of Constantine, probably nude, wearing a seven-point radiate crown and holding a spear and orb.

At the foot of the column was a sanctuary which contained relics allegedly from the crosses of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus at Calvary, the baskets from the loaves and fishes miracle, an alabaster ointment jar belonging to Mary Magdalene and used by her for anointing the head and feet of Jesus,[5] and the palladium of ancient Rome (a wooden statue of Pallas Athena from Troy).

[1] A 16th-century drawing by Melchior Lorck records a now-lost relief sculpture on the north part of the column base: the symmetrical composition centers upon an emperor's bust within a laurel wreath, flanked by two Victories and surrounded by humbled barbarians offering tribute.

Since 1985, the monuments of the historic areas of Istanbul, including the Column, have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.