Magnaura Palace ramp tower and Sphendone foundations survive in Istanbul

August 15, 2026TürkiyeArchitecture

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Key facts

• The Magnaura was the part of the Great Palace where ambassadors were customarily received.
• The Magnaura contained the hydraulic throne of Solomon.
• The Magnaura included a basilica-shaped throne room, a bridal chamber, a bath, and a church, none of which have been conclusively located.
• One of the Magnaura's ramp towers still stands three stories high among buildings on Akboyuk Street.
• The ramp tower was used as a sock factory for decades before being crudely restored in the 1990s.
• Additional Magnaura remains were uncovered in the 1990s behind the ramp tower along Kutagon Street.
• Byzantine walls at the site have been restored with modern brick and rebar.
• The Hippodrome of Constantinople was demolished for building material in the early Ottoman period.
• The massive foundations of the Sphendone (the Hippodrome's curved end) remain visible beneath a late Ottoman school.
• A large Byzantine cistern beneath the Sphendone still holds water.
• The Sphendone's vaults were walled off after a 5th-century earthquake, likely dating the cistern to that century.

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