Gothic Column

Brief Information

The Column of the Goths is notable not only for its age: its name rests on an inscription that can now barely be read. A Latin formula about the Romans’ victory over the Goths has survived on the base, and it was this that gave the column its familiar name. At the same time, the date of its creation and its original dedication remain unclear, so the monument reads as an object with several layers of meaning removed and rewritten.

The column stands in Gülhane Park in Istanbul and is considered the city’s oldest surviving architectural monument, possibly even predating the foundation of Constantinople. It is a rare case in which a single vertical stone marker links today’s city park with Roman memory of victory and with later attempts to explain to whom it was dedicated.

What to Notice First

It is worth comparing three parts of the column: the tall marble shaft, the Corinthian capital at the top, and the base with the Latin inscription. The Proconnesian marble and the height of 18.5 meters create the impression of an official triumphal marker, while the capital connects it with the ancient architectural tradition. The base is more important than it may seem: the almost erased inscription does not merely decorate the stone, but explains the column’s current name and reports a victory over the Goths.

Another detail is a trace of absence. Sources described the lost statue at the top in different ways: some named Byzas of Megara, others the goddess Tyche. The top of the column should therefore be perceived not as a completed silhouette, but as a place where there was once a semantic accent. Nearby, about fifty meters away, the remains of the hospice of Saint Paul are mentioned; this proximity helps show that this part of the city preserves not one monument, but various traces of the Late Antique and Byzantine environment.