Iznik

Overview

On the shore of a wide lake, a small farming town sits inside Roman walls. Yet this is Nicaea, where in 325 the bishops of the Christian world met and wrote the first part of the Nicene Creed. Later, the town gave its name to the celebrated tiles of the Ottoman Empire. Iznik is small, but it holds a great deal of history in a few streets. Still deciding? Read Is Iznik worth it?

Walk through a Roman gate, visit a Byzantine church that became a mosque, and end the day watching the sunset over Lake Iznik.

Iznik, Where Nicaea Still Stands Inside Its Walls

Iznik, written İznik in Turkish, is a district town of Bursa province. It lies in a fertile basin at the eastern end of Lake Iznik, with hills to the north and south. As the crow flies, it is only 90 kilometers (56 miles) southeast of Istanbul. By road, however, the trip is about 200 kilometers (124 miles) around the Gulf of İzmit, and Bursa is 80 kilometers (50 miles) away.

The modern name comes from the Greek Nikaia, with a prefix meaning “to”. Today the old walls still ring the town, although roads now pierce them in places.

From the Council of Nicaea to the Kilns of Iznik

Nicaea and the councils

Antigonus, one of Alexander’s generals, founded Nicaea in 316 BC. In 325, Emperor Constantine the Great called the First Council of Nicaea here. At least 200 bishops attended, and they settled a dispute over the nature of Christ, wrote the first part of the Nicene Creed and set a common date for Easter. Then, in 787, the Second Council of Nicaea met in the town’s Hagia Sophia.

An early Ottoman capital

In 1331, Orhan took the city from the Byzantines, and for a short time it served as the capital of the young Ottoman state. Soon after, the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta stayed here. He found the town in ruins but full of gardens and orchards, producing walnuts, chestnuts and large sweet grapes.

The town of tiles

From the 15th century, Iznik became a center of pottery and tile making. Its Iznik tiles decorated many of the mosques that Mimar Sinan designed in Istanbul. Even then, though, the town stayed small: in the 16th century it had about 2,000 people. In the 17th century, the industry declined, and when the railway bypassed Iznik in the 19th century, it became a farming town.

Walking Iznik Inside the Walls

Hagia Sophia

In the middle of town, Justinian I built a church of Holy Wisdom in the 6th century. After 1331, Orhan turned it into a mosque. Today, after a controversial rebuilding, it is the Ayasofya Mosque again, and traces of Byzantine frescoes survive inside.

The walls and gates

At first, 5 kilometers (3 miles) of walls about 10 meters (33 feet) high ringed the city, with more than 100 towers and a double ditch. Three great gates opened on the land sides, while the western walls rose from the lake. Today the walls are ruined, but enough survives for a fine walk.

The Green Mosque and early Ottoman buildings

Near the Lefke Gate, the Green Mosque was built between 1378 and 1391 for Çandarlı Kara Halil Hayreddin Pasha, the first Ottoman grand vizier. Nearby stands the small Hacı Özbek Mosque from the early Ottoman years. Look also for the Süleyman Pasha Madrasa from the mid-14th century.

The Nilüfer Hatun Imaret and the kilns

Built as a public kitchen, the Nilüfer Hatun Imaret is now a museum. Elsewhere in town, slight traces remain of the kilns that once fired the famous tiles. Finally, the ruins of the Basilica of Saint Neophytos are thought to mark the meeting place of the First Council.

A Sunken Church, Living Kilns and the Lake

Since the railway passed it by, Iznik has lived mostly from farming, olives and the lake.

The lake also keeps a secret. A few meters off the shore lie the remains of an early church, the Basilica of Saint Neophytos, under the water.

The tile-making has come back to life. In the 1990s, the Iznik Foundation began to rediscover the old quartz-based recipes with scientists and master potters. Today, its workshops by the lake make tiles for historic buildings around the world, and each one takes weeks to finish. From Istanbul, see our Nicaea day trip.

How to Visit Iznik

Getting to Iznik

• From Bursa: about 80 kilometers (50 miles) by road.
• From Istanbul: about 200 kilometers (124 miles) by road around the Gulf of İzmit.
• Combine it: pair it with Bursa’s Green Mosque and the Bursa Grand Mosque, or see it on our Byzantine Turkey tour of 7 days. Our Istanbul Bursa tour in 3 days ends here after Istanbul and Bursa.

Local tips for Iznik

• Walk the walls between the gates for the best overview of the town.
• Stay for sunset on the lakeshore at the western edge of town.
• We arrange your entry to the İznik museum as part of the day.