The Million was virtually created by multi-media designer Serdar Korkmaz
The Milion was the Golden Milestone in the centre of Constantinople, close to the Basilica Cistern, the Hippodrome and Hagia Sophia on which the distances across the empire were measured. Built shortly after the city’s foundation, it was restored in the time of Justinian. According to the texts it was a square of four pillars connected by arches and covered by a domical vault.
Sketch of Milliarium Aureum in ancient Rome
It was the zero-mile marker of the Byzantine Empire, similar to the Milliarium Aureum in Rome’s Forum. It symbolized Constantinople’s role as the new Rome, where heaven, earth, and empire were connected. For Byzantines, It marked the cosmic and imperial “center” of the world, which meant that Constantinople was the “New Rome,” the heart of Christendom, divinely chosen to be the capital of the civilised world. We know from historical accounts that the site was richly decorated with statues of emperors, gods, and Christian figures.
Once a majestic monument, all remains is a humble fragment of the Million
Today, only a small fragment of the Million has remained. It must be noted that when medieval writers referred to the “centre of the world” in Constantinople, they were usually pointing to this monument—the Milion—as both a practical hub and a symbolic one which meant the heart of the empire and the Christian world. It is such as irony that there are so few İstanbulites who are aware that this humble stone was once considered the centre of the civilised world!
