Ayasofya and Hippodrome in the context of politics, religion and art in Constantinopole

Byzantium is an empire that has managed to survive for centuries, attracted a lot of attention to its historical past, political events, influence on culture and civilization, and made a name for itself with its intrigues and entertainment life within the Empire. Constantinople, the administrative center of Byzantium, as a city where artistic movements were experienced at the highest level, in addition to its geographical and political importance, is worth examining with all its magnificence and splendor. Because of its unique geography that connects the continents of Europe and Asia, Constantinople has added the culture belonging to the society in different ways in different periods of history and the traces of the social life that took place in that environment to the city and important places in a way to form layers of civilization. Getting knowledge about Constantinople better, which has the features that will enable us to understand the Byzantine political and religious life, culture and civilization in the best way, has revealed the necessity of examining the political and religious structure here in relation to space. Ayasofya, which has witnessed important political and religious events in Constantinople, which has gained a symbolic structure from ancient ages to the middle and new ages, and which has created a breaking point in the history of world art with its architecture and decorations, comes first in this evaluation. As a matter of fact, the symbol of Constantinople, the center of Christianity in the East, and the symbolic place of Christianity, the Church of Ayasofya has been accepted as a sacred structure for both the Christian world and Muslim states. Ayasofya is a cultural place that is important enough to exceed its geography and has different universal values. With its importance, Ayasofya appears as a reflection, Constantinople became a center with a political structure under a religious appearance. Ayasofya, one of the strong examples of the relationship between civilization and locality, appeared as a political symbol that the emperors legitimized their power in later periods. On the other hand, Byzantium is an important socializing place where many shows are staged, entertainment and sports activities come to the fore. With the hippodrome, which is one of the largest and most valuable structures of Constantinople, social dynamics were kept active, and the people were tried to happier and at peace with politics. This situation was among the factors that enabled the state to survive for a thousand years even under severe political and economic conditions. From the 4th to the 7th centuries, the Hippodrome was not only a place where the most exciting chariot races and shows made, but also became an important public domain that the military victories were celebrated with magnificent shows, the emperors were enthroned and gained their constitutionalism, wore their crowns, and the people could express their wishes in the presence of their emperors. The hippodrome is both a public and a political site. In this context, it has been the administrative and ceremonial center of Constantinople and therefore the Byzantine Empire for a very long time.