İznik, or Nicaea (Latin)/Nikaia (Greek) as known in ancient times, was the site of the both first and seventh ecumenical councils of Christianity (i.e. First and Second Councils of Nicaea), convened in 325 and 787 respectively. Later it served as the capital city of Sultanate of Rum, first Turkic state established in Asia Minor. After the Crusaders of Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople and established Latin Empire in 1204, it also served as the capital of Empire of Nicaea, a rump Byzantine state, for more than 60 years. Despite still maintaining some traces of its past, the town today has a somewhat provincial feel to it, and is far from the importance it possessed in history.
İznik today is still mostly surrounded by ancient walls with four major gates roughly corresponding to the cardinal directions. They are named after the major town the road exiting through the gate in question leads to. In clockwise order, they are (starting from north): Istanbul Gate (İstanbul Kapı), Lefke Gate (Lefke Kapı), Yenişehir Gate (Yenişehir Kapı), and Lake Gate (Göl Kapı), providing access to the lake shore, not a town. All are roughly the same distance away from town square, which is the intersection of the two major streets of the town: Atatürk Caddesi (north-south, between Istanbul and Yenişehir Gates) and Kılıçaslan Caddesi (east-west, between Lefke and Lake Gates).
İznik is also famous for its tiles (çini), though much less so than in the past.
Tourism Information Office (Turizm Danışma), Atatürk Caddesi (very near the town square; next to Hagia Sophia), ☎ +90 224 757 19 33 (fax: +90 224 757 19 33). This official information office provides free brochures (which include a map) of the town. �
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Iznik
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Iznik - updated May 2024
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Iznik Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
