Nicaea in Layers from City Gate to Museum

Start the route at the İstanbul Gate at the northern edge of the town, where Atatürk Caddesi meets the walls. Step outside the line of the walls to see the gate from the outside first, and look at it as a traveller arriving on the road from İstanbul would. The İstanbul Gate consists of three separate gates, outer, middle and inner, with an oval courtyard between them. Stand in the middle of the courtyard and look first at the outer arch and then at the inner one; this is the best place to see how the three gates line up on a single axis. Notice that the gate jambs are made of granite columns and carry a tall arch above them. Above the jambs are two Medusa heads facing outward; the District Governorate of İznik writes that they were placed there to keep evil spirits away. According to İznik Municipality, the gate was built in the Roman period and repaired in the time of Emperor Hadrian, in AD 123. According to Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, the İstanbul Gate and the Yenişehir Gate in the south have undergone restoration work carried out by the İznik Museum Directorate and the municipality.

From here follow the line of the walls east to the Lefke Gate; where the path leaves the walls for a stretch, keep heading east through the town. The walls run for about 4,970 metres around the town, and their height varies between 10 and 13 metres. Count the round and square towers as you walk; according to official sources the ring has 114 towers in all. On the face of the wall you will see courses of brick alternating with large cut stones, the technique used for most of the circuit. Bursa Metropolitan Municipality notes that the walls, begun in the Bithynian period in the 4th century BC, were at first only about 2.5 kilometres long. The line was extended to its present length after the Gothic raids of 258. Byzantine repairs and the reinforcements of the Empire of Nicaea between 1204 and 1261 added new layers to the wall. That is why you will notice the material and the workmanship changing along the same stretch, and in some sections a second line standing in front of the main wall.

Look at the column shafts, capitals and inscribed stones set into the wall; they were taken from the ruins of older buildings. The TDV Encyclopaedia of Islam records that the Byzantines also used inscribed sarcophagi as building material. The sources record Greek and Latin inscriptions on the walls and note that some towers carry inscriptions; scan the tower faces with your camera's zoom. İznik Municipality writes that the Roman theatre was sacrificed for the defence of the town and that the walls were built with cut stone taken from it; remember this link when you reach the third stop of the route.

When you reach the Lefke Gate, notice that it too is made up of several gates in a layout similar to the İstanbul Gate. The difference here is that its courtyard was closed off in the Byzantine period and turned into a corridor. Look at the two inscriptions above the central arch; according to the sources, one of them was written in the name of Emperor Hadrian. İznik Municipality reports that an inscription on the gate says the proconsul M. Plancius Varus dedicated the work to Nicaea, the capital of the province. Look closely as well at the reused frieze fragments and marble columns on the gate. The sources disagree on the dating of the gates; the Culture Portal inventory entry links the Lefke Gate to Hadrian's visit to the town, while the UNESCO file attributes the four main gates to Vespasian and his son Titus. The 822 metre Roman water channel, which the municipality calls the Lefke Gate ancient aqueduct and says was built on Hadrian's orders, also lies in this section. The outer face of the gate looks east and catches the morning sun, so try to photograph it early in the day. Watch the walls and the gate arches only from the ground, and do not climb onto the wall tops or the ruined towers. Finally, enter the town through the Lefke Gate and walk west along the main east-west axis; this street takes you to Hagia Sophia at the crossing in the centre of the town.

Source: Kültür Portalı; İznik Belediyesi; İznik Kaymakamlığı; UNESCO Geçici Liste.

Coming along the east-west axis, you will find Hagia Sophia at the southeast corner of the crossing where the town's two main streets meet. Walk once around the building before going in, because its present appearance is the sum of at least three building phases added one on top of another over different centuries. According to the sources a Roman gymnasium stood here first, and the building's first phase is a brick-walled basilica set on its stone foundations. This first basilica is thought to date from between the 4th and 5th centuries; the UNESCO file states that the building was rebuilt in the 6th century under Emperor Justinian. Look at the brickwork rising above the stone foundations on the north and south walls; the thick layers of mortar and the large bricks are traces of this early phase. The building's name first appears in written records in connection with the Seventh Council, which met on 11 October 787 under Patriarch Tarasios.

The building was almost entirely destroyed in the earthquake of 1065 and was practically rebuilt, with its floor raised by 1.40 metres. In that rebuilding the apse was given five sides, and domed side chambers were added on either side of it. Look at the east end from outside and try to pick out the corners of the five-sided apse. After Orhan Gazi took the town in 1331, the building was converted into a mosque, a mihrab and a minaret were added, and it came to be known as the Orhan Mosque. In the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent, after a fire, Mimar Sinan repaired the building. According to Anadolu Agency, in this repair the arches and columns inside were removed and replaced with wide-span arches so that the mihrab could be seen from everywhere. Travellers who saw the building in the late 18th and early 19th centuries describe it as ruined and abandoned. Opened to visitors as a museum after 1935, the building was converted back into a mosque in 2011 after a restoration that began in 2007.

As it is a mosque today, follow mosque etiquette before you go in. Take off your shoes and wear clothing that covers your shoulders and knees; women visitors should cover their heads. Put off your visit during prayer times and follow the directions of the staff inside. According to an Anadolu Agency report, the prayer area and the visitor area in the building are kept separate. Keep your voice down, do not walk in front of people at prayer, and do not use flash.

Inside, look first at the floor; the repairs of 1935 and 1953 uncovered floor paving decorated with coloured stones. The same work also found semicircular tiers of seating from the Byzantine period. In basilicas such tiers usually sit along the inner curve of the apse, so look for their traces in that direction. Anadolu Agency writes that a semi-elliptical niche in the south wall holds a fresco from the Byzantine period. The Culture Portal and İznik Municipality also record remains of a fresco on the wall of a burial chamber in the building. Parts of the paving and the frescoes may be covered by carpets or lie outside the visitor area; ask the staff about any detail you cannot see. When you come back outside, try to fit the transitions between stone foundation, brick wall and later repairs into a single frame. From here head southwest from the crossing; the Roman Theatre lies in the southwestern part of the town, a short walk away.

Source: Kültür Portalı; İznik Belediyesi; Anadolu Ajansı; UNESCO Geçici Liste.

According to the Culture Portal, the theatre lies in the southwest of the town, in the Selçuk neighbourhood. According to Bursa Metropolitan Municipality it opened to visitors in March 2024 after long excavation and restoration work; as excavation continues, check before you go whether the site is open that day and what its opening hours are. It was built in the 2nd century AD, in the reign of Emperor Trajan, by Pliny, governor of Bithynia. Most theatres in Anatolia lean against a hillside, but this one was built on flat ground and its seating was raised on vaults. The sources describe it as the only example of this kind of construction in Turkey. Holding about ten thousand spectators, it covers an area 84 metres long and 63 metres wide.

Inside, look first at the system of arches and vaults that carries the seating; the Culture Portal notes that this vaulted substructure has been preserved. İznik Municipality writes that, being built on flat ground, the theatre has 19 galleries to carry its seating. As far as the visitor path allows, walk along counting the gallery openings and follow how the arches carry the rows of seats. Then turn to the stage building; according to the sources it had three storeys, of which only the first has survived. The excavations have uncovered the whole of the stage, which runs 45 metres from east to west. Imagine the stage front as it once was, covered with colonnaded galleries and rich architectural decoration, as you look at the bases and blocks that remain.

The theatre served its original purpose for about two centuries; the sources say that gladiatorial fights and other shows were held here. The great earthquakes of 358, 362 and 368 caused it heavy damage. According to the Culture Portal, walls were built into the orchestra in the 4th century and a fresco was painted on the side walls of the orchestra. After the Arab raids of the 8th century, parts of the theatre were dismantled and used to strengthen the walls; the walls you saw at the first stop and the gaps here are two sides of the same story. In the 12th century two church buildings were put up on the site. In the 13th century, during the Empire of Nicaea, soldiers killed in battle were buried together in the theatre's passages, as the excavations established. In the Ottoman period ceramic kilns worked in suitable parts of it until the 17th century; after the kilns fell out of use, its blocks went on being used in the surrounding houses.

The theatre was first identified and sketched in 1743, and the first excavations were started in 1980 by Bedri Yalman, a specialist at the Bursa Museum. The excavations continued in later years under the İznik Museum and have recently been carried out by the team of Professor Aygün Ekin Meriç of Dokuz Eylül University. According to Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, the excavations showed traces of settlement on the site going back to the 6th century BC. Do not leave the visitor path, and do not enter the excavation and restoration areas or the mouths of the vaults. For photographs, look for an angle that brings the curve of the seating and the long line of the stage into one frame. If you have time, make a short detour west to the remains of the Lake Gate on the shore; little of the gate survives, and only half of the tower on its right still stands. Then walk southeast towards the Yenişehir Gate; you will see the finds from the theatre excavations at the final stop, the İznik Museum.

Source: Kültür Portalı; Bursa Büyükşehir Belediyesi; İznik Belediyesi; Wikipedia, İznik Roma Tiyatrosu.

The last stop of the route is the İznik Museum, which according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism stands in the Mahmut Çelebi neighbourhood near the Yenişehir Gate. The museum opened in 1935 in the Yakup Çelebi Zaviye and moved to the Nilüfer Hatun Imaret in 1960. The new building, put up by the ministry between 2020 and 2022, opened to visitors with the archaeological collection on 16 January 2023. The Nilüfer Hatun Imaret now serves as a separate museum, the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts. Check the opening hours, the closing day and the entry conditions on the official website before you go. The exhibition halls are on the ground floor, while the upper floor holds offices and storerooms. About 1,500 works are on display, the oldest going back to around 6500 BC.

The halls are arranged chronologically: the Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, Hellenistic, Roman, Eastern Roman and Ottoman periods follow one another. Walk through them in that order, because here the buildings you have seen during the day fall into place on the timeline. The finds come from earlier excavations at the mounds around the town and from the ongoing excavations at the İznik Tile Kilns, the İznik Roman Theatre, the underwater basilica in the lake and the Hisardere Necropolis. Among the Roman pieces, look for the marble board of the game called duodecim scripta, which resembles backgammon and in which each player has fifteen pieces. The four sides of the Achilles sarcophagus show scenes from the Trojan War, Agamemnon, Achilles and his captive Briseis; one side carries figures representing spring, summer and autumn.

The sarcophagi are the most striking part of the museum. The man in the Antigonos sarcophagus, one of the key finds from the Hisardere Necropolis and dated to the 2nd century AD, died between the ages of 45 and 50 and was buried wrapped in a threefold wool shroud. Part of the shroud, the wooden pillow under his head and part of the wooden bed beneath his body have survived. The sarcophagus was commissioned by his wife Arete; it bears her figure and a lament she had inscribed for her husband. The Nigerine and Astyris sarcophagus belongs to the mother Nigerine, who died between the ages of 30 and 45, and her daughter Astyris, who died between 25 and 30. The bodies were found wrapped in linen, wool and silk shrouds; according to the inscription on the front, the daughter bought the sarcophagus for her mother and herself. On the Nike and Eros sarcophagus of the 2nd century AD the two figures are carved independently of each other, and traces of a shroud survive on the body. Here too is a replica of a frescoed burial chamber of the 4th or 5th century AD, found in 1967 at Hespekli within the bounds of Elbeyli; the original chamber was later wrecked by treasure hunters.

Set aside time for the finds from the tile kiln excavations. The UNESCO file writes that excavations carried out by İstanbul University for more than thirty years have revealed the production and decoration techniques of İznik ceramics. The TDV Encyclopaedia of Islam also notes that kiln fireboxes and ceramic fragments found in the excavations are kept in the museum. When you look at the theatre finds, recall the vaults and stage blocks you saw at the previous stop. Then go out into the garden, where the open-air display consists mainly of stone works such as column capitals, sarcophagi, stelae and inscriptions. The garden display is also arranged by period, and here you can examine up close pieces like the reused fragments you saw in the walls during the day. The site has toilets, parking and a small prayer room.

When you leave the museum, walk to the nearby Yenişehir Gate; it stands at the start of the road leading from İznik towards Yenişehir and Bursa. Built of cut stone, the gate consists of three parts, outer, middle and inner, and the inner gate is reached through a square courtyard. İznik Municipality dates the gate to the 1st century AD, to the reign of Emperor Claudius, while the Culture Portal inventory entry gives the years 268 to 270. If you have time left, stop at the Nilüfer Hatun Imaret near the Lefke Gate as well; built in 1388 in the name of Murad I's mother, it is, according to the UNESCO file, the first soup kitchen built on an inverted T plan. Do not forget to check the time of the last service before heading back to Bursa.

Source: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, Türkiye Müzeleri; KVMGM; UNESCO Geçici Liste; Wikipedia, İznik Müzesi.