The Serpent Column (Greek Τρικάρηνος Όφις (trans. Trikarenos Ophis), Turkish, Yılanlı Sütun) — also known as the Serpentine Column, Delphi Tripod or Plataean Tripod — is an ancient bronze column at the Hippodrome of Constantinople (known as Atmeydanı "Horse Square" in the Ottoman period) in what is now Istanbul, Turkey. It is part of an ancient Greek sacrificial tripod, originally in Delphi and relocated to Constantinople by Constantine I the Great in 324. It was built to commemorate the Greeks who fought and defeated the Persian Empire at the Battle of Plataea (479 BC). The serpent heads of the 8-metre high column remained intact until the end of the 17th century (one is on display at the nearby Istanbul Archaeology Museums).
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Famous quotes containing the words serpent and/or column:
“Take Time by the forelock. It is also the safest part to take a serpent by.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Never have anything to do with the near surviving representatives of anyone whose name appears in the death column of the Times as having “passed away.””
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)