Forum of Theodosius

The Forum of Theodosius (Greek: φόρος Θεοδοσίου, today Beyazıt Square) was probably the largest square in Constantinople and stood on the Mese, the major road that ran west from Hagia Sophia (Turkish: Ayasofya). It was originally built by Constantine I, probably on the site of a pre-existing Hellenistic agora called the Strategion, and named the Forum Tauri ("Forum of the Bull"). In 393, however, it was renamed after Emperor Theodosius I, who rebuilt it after the model of Trajan's Forum in Rome, surrounded by civic buildings such as churches and baths and decorated with a triumphal column at its centre.