Column of Marcian
The Column of Marcian () is a Roman honorific column erected in Constantinople by the "praefectus urbi" Tatianus (450-c.452) and dedicated to the Emperor Marcian (450-57). It is located in the present-day Fatih district of Istanbul. The column is not documented in any late Roman or Byzantine source and its history has to be inferred from its location, style and dedicatory inscription. The column is carved from red-grey Egyptian granite, in two sections. The quadrilateral basis is encased by four slabs of white marble. Three faces are decorated with IX monograms within medallions, and  the fourth with two "genii" supporting a globe. The column is topped by a Corinthian capital, decorated with "aquilae". The inscription confirms that the capital was originally surmounted by a statue of Marcian, in continuation of an imperial architectural tradition initiated by the Column of Trajan and the Column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome. The basis of the column is orientated northwest/southeast, while its capital is aligned north/south, possibly so that the statue could look towards the nearby Church of the Holy Apostles. A Latin dedicatory inscription is engraved on the northern side of the basis. Its lettering  was originally filled with bronze, which has since been removed. The inscription reads: [PR]INCIPIS HANC STATUAM MARCIANI | CERNE TORUMQUE | [PRAE]FECTUS VOVIT QUOD TATIANUS | OPUS The Turkish name "Kıztaşı", "the column of the girl" ("kız": "girl" + "taş": "stone"), apparently derives from the "genii" on the basis, which during the Ottoman period were the column's most distinguishing features (after the loss of Marcian's statue).