Omphalion in Greek means "navel of the earth"; compare the omphalos

Omphalos

An omphalos is an ancient religious stone artifact, or baetylus. In Greek, the word omphalos means "navel" . According to the ancient Greeks, Zeus sent out two eagles to fly across the world to meet at its center, the "navel" of the world...

of Delphi

Delphi

Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...

.

Hagia Sophia

"The Omphalion" is a group of circular marble slabs fitted into a design on the main floor of the Great Church of Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...

 (Church of the Holy Wisdom) in Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 (modern Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

).

The Omphalion is located in front of the Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 muezzin

Muezzin

A muezzin , or muzim, is the chosen person at a mosque who leads the call to prayer at Friday services and the five daily times for prayer from one of the mosque's minarets; in most modern mosques, electronic amplification aids the muezzin in his task.The professional muezzin is chosen for his...

 lodge. In the centre (the larger slab) is the location where the coronation of every Byzantine

Byzantine

Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

 Basileus

Basileus

Basileus is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs in history. It is perhaps best known in English as a title used by the Byzantine Emperors, but also has a longer history of use for persons of authority and sovereigns in ancient Greece, as well as for the kings of...

 (Greek: Βασιλεύς) or Emperor, took place.

This is also the spot where the Emperor would sit and participate during church ceremonies.

On March 24th, 2011, two visitors to the Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...

 were spotted in the early hours of the morning standing on the Omphalion. It was later revealed that they had gotten engaged on the Omphalion.

Other Omphalia

The word omphalion is also used to describe other sacred circular marking slabs that were usually located in important or especially sacred churches throughout the Byzantine Empire.

This marble omphalion (photo currently unavailable), from the floor of the Church of Hagia Sophia in Trebizond (north coast of modern Turkey), was brought to Thessalonica (modern Thessaloniki) by Greek refugees in 1924.