Serpent column was initially a column under a gold votive tripod of Apollo. It is one of the oldest monuments in Istanbul. The column was taken from the Delphic sanctuary of Apollo in Greece in 326 the Emperor Constantine the Great. September 26, 479 years before Mr..e. the Greeks defeated the Persians in a large battle of Plataea (Boeotia, Greece). The column became a symbol of victory over the Persians in the Greek city-States. On the Snake pillar there is an inscription with a list of these Greek cities that took part in the battle in the city of Plataea. Herodotus was talking about this column that was once a Golden tripod: "When oil was collected (after the battle of Plataea), the Greeks separated the tenth of the Delphic God (Apollo). From this tithe was taken and the Golden tripod, which stands at Delphi on triceps brass serpent directly at the altar" (IX, 81).

In the original, the composition was at a height of about eight and a half meters and was twisted into a bundle of three snakes. The heads of these snakes diverged between an angle of a hundred and twenty degrees in different directions on top of it. The composition was crowned with a three-legged Golden bowl, and the snakes themselves were made from bronze parts of the shields of the fallen on the historic battle of the Persians, made in the technique of "spirales".

For a long time there was a rumor that almost half of the columns during the construction of the Sultanahmet mosque was buried under the ground, a Golden vase with columns was taken by crusaders captured and sacked the city of Constantinople in 1204.

Over the years the column has changed a lot and been through a lot. The Cup was stolen or lost in antiquity, and the heads of serpents "lived" for a long time, according to historical Chronicles, until they were demolished in 1700. Despite all the changes since the original design, the column and at the present time has not lost its originality and continues to be one of the famous special interest tourists attractions of Turkey.