Zagreb Hippodrome Zagreb Hippodrome. In 1994, Pope John Paul II celebrated a mass at the Hippodrome, which was attended by a million people. Pope Benedict XVI also celebrated a mass at the Hippodrome in 2011. The Hippodrome also saw use as a concert venue, hosting Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica. Zagreb Hippodrome Zagreb Hippodrome () is a horse racing venue in Zagreb, Croatia. It was built from 1947 to 1950, with a design based on the Longchamp Racecourse in Paris. It is located in the neighbourhood of Kajzerica, on the southern bank of the Sava river, near the Bundek lake. The
Hippodrome of Constantinople in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine era. Although the Hippodrome is usually associated with Constantinople's days of glory as an imperial capital, it actually predates that era. The first Hippodrome was built when the city was called Byzantium, and was a provincial town of moderate importance. In AD 203 the Emperor Septimius Severus rebuilt the city and expanded its walls, endowing it with a hippodrome, an arena for chariot races and other entertainment. In AD 324, the Emperor Constantine the Great decided to move the seat of the government from Rome to Byzantium, which he renamed Nova Roma (New Rome).