The Maiden's Stone (Column of Marcian)

Istanbul · Turkiet · Stone formation

The column whispers about every girl who passes beneath it — and inside the stone itself lies a king's daughter, wrote Evliya Çelebi.

In the middle of a residential block in Fatih stands a column from 455, raised for Emperor Marcian, which the city renamed the Maiden's Stone. The name comes from what it is said to do. According to the legend the stone whispers about every girl who passes beneath it whether she is still a virgin, and whoever embraces the shaft will never die unmarried. Evliya Çelebi wrote in his travel book that a king's daughter lies inside the column itself. A third story says the stone was originally carried toward the building site of Hagia Sophia by a girl with magical strength, until a spirit stepped into her path and told her to turn back: the church was already finished, she had come too late. Where she set down her burden, the column still stands. The children of the quarter still dare each other to run around it.

FAQ

Where is The Maiden's Stone (Column of Marcian) located?

The Maiden's Stone (Column of Marcian) is in Istanbul, Turkiet.

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