The Palace was located in the southeastern corner of the peninsula where Constantinople is situated, behind the Hippodrome and the Hagia Sophia. The Palace is considered by scholars to have been a series of pavilions, much like the Ottoman-era Topkapı Palace that succeeded it. The total surface area of the Great Palace exceeded . It stood on a steeply sloping hillside that descends nearly from the Hippodrome to the shoreline, which necessitated the construction of large substructures and vaults. The palace complex occupied six distinct terraces descending to the shore.