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Iznik is a small
town in northwestern
Turkey, on the
eastern shore of
Lake Iznik. It is
the modern successor
of the important Byzantine city
of Nicea (or
Nicaea), where the
famous Council of
Nicea was held in
325 AD.
Several monuments
from the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman ages are
well preserved in
modern Iznik. Nicea's
Roman and Byzantine city
walls, 14,520 feet
(4,426 m) in
circumference,
remain almost
entirely intact
around the city.
They were built in
300 BC by the Greek
Lysimachus, then
ruler of the town,
and were frequently
repaired by the Byzantines and Ottomans. The
main gate is the Istanbul Gate,
on the north side,
decorated with a
carved relief of
fighting horsemen.
Nicea had an ancient
theater, built
between the lake and
Yenisehir Gate. It
was built by the
Proconsul of
Bythinia, Plinius,
in 112. By the 13th
century, it was
turned into a mass
grave.
Archaeological
excavations have
revealed that a
church, palace, Ottoman ceramic
workshops and tile
kilns were
constructed within
it.
The First Council of
Nicea was held in
the Senatus Palace,
which sadly now lies
beneath the waters
of Lake Iznik. The
highlight for
religious travelers
and historians are
the ruins of the
4th-century St.
Sophia Cathedral,
the site of the
Second Council of
Nicea. It is located
in the town center.
Renamed Orhan Ghazi
Mosque in 1331 and
badly damaged by
earthquake and fire,
the building was
restored by the
famous architect
Sinan in the 16th
century. The ceiling
of Haghia Sophia has collapsed but
much still remains.
On the wall of a
grave room is a
fresco of Christ and
there are surviving
mosaic pavements on
the floor. The
14th-century Green
Mosque (Yesil Camii)
is named for the
green tiles adorning
its minaret. The
original tiles have
now been replaced by
inferior copies. The
Iznik Archaeological
Museum is across
from the mosque. One
of Iznik's nicest
historical
buildings, the
museum is housed in
the Kitchen of Lady
Nilüfer (Nilüfer
Hatun Imareti). The
imaret (kitchen) was
set up in 1388 by
the wife of Ottoman ruler
Orhan Gazi, as a
hospice for
wandering dervishes.
Visitors enter
through a spacious
five-domed portico,
which leads to a
central domed area
flanked by two more
domed rooms. The
museum's collection
consists mainly of
Roman antiquities
and glass,
supplemented with
some
recently-discovered
Seljuk and Ottoman tiles. |
