ARCHIVAL EVIDENCE FOR THE LATE-NINETEENTH CENTURY RESTORATION OF THE COLOSSUS IN SULTANAHMET SQUARE, ISTANBUL

Abstract

The Colossus, an ashlar obelisk whose original date of construction is not known, stands at the south end of Istanbul's Sultanahmet Square (formerly the Hippodrome of Constantinople). According to the Greek inscription on its base it was restored by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennitus in the tenth century ad. Archival records from 1889 show that the Colossus was in a dilapidated condition by the end of the nineteenth century. The monument was examined by a commission that included the renowned architect A. Vallaury. As a result of this investigation it was proposed that the Colossus be restored using stones that had fallen from the city walls near Topkapı. This paper traces the history of the examination and restoration of the monument using primary documents (dating to between 1889 and 1895) from the Ottoman State Archive.