İznik

Understand

thumb | 300px | Constantine picked up the tab for the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea "So if Jesus is the Son of God, there must have been a time before God created him?"

"Oh no there wasn't!" "Oh yes there was!" Whack! - "Take that, you disgusting Arian heretic!"

In 325 AD, with ruthless Roman persecution still a recent memory and with so many other daily threats to survival, this was how early Christians got dandered up. Then Emperor Constantine made it a tolerated Roman religion, whatever it was - Christianity took on multiple forms as it diverged from Jewish belief and practice, and encountered different gentile / pagan audiences. And so he convened a grand assembly at Nicaea of all the bishops of Christiandom, which became known as the First Ecumenical Council: about 300 of the 1000-some attended. Their meeting place was the Imperial Palace, north side near Istanbul gate, but building and site are long lost. Constantine attended as host and convenor but did not intervene in debate - his crucial role was to fund the show, including the travel expenses. Its outcome was the Nicene Creed, the first unified doctrine and code of Christianity.

This became the Roman state religion in 380 but continued to be riven by disputes, as it is to this day. Further ecumenical councils were held, with the seventh and last of that format again held in Nicaea in 787. The city itself long pre-dates that, and a series of Hellenistic proto-states warred over it. In 301 BC it was capture…

Get around

Walk: the going is level, and all the gates – the most distant points of the town – are about 1 km from the central square.

Taxis wait in the streets near Hagia Sophia. Operators include İznik Taksi (+90 224 757 3737), İznik Terminal Taksi (+90 552 207 9177) and Merkez Taksi (+90 224 757 5164).

See

The clocktower (İznik saat kulesi) presides over the town crossroads next to Hagia Sophia, with views to each city gate. Tile ovens (Çini fırınları) from the 16th century lie ruined a block south on Maltepe Cd, corner of Ali Paşa Sk, next to an old hamam. All over town are craft shops calling themselves tile museums ("Come in, is free to look!"), see Buy. Haji Özbek Mosque is on Kılıçaslan Cd 200 m east of Hagia Sophia. It was built in 1333 shortly after the Ottoman conquest, but much altered when the street was widened in the 20th century. Huysuzlar Tombs are on Atatürk Cd north towards Istanbul Gate. The name means "grumpy" and the hoaky tale goes that misbehaving children were made to stand here and think on. is the best preserved of the city's four gates. on Sultan Sk might be 15th / 16th century but is dilapidated. Ahiveyn Sultan Tombs are a short block east then south of the hamam. Ahiveyn or Afyon was grandson of Orhan, the second of the Ottoman dynasty, but these tombs are 17th century; they're fairly plain. thumb | 300px | Hagia Sophia Davud Kayseri Tomb is two short blocks north of the museum. Dawūd al-Qayṣarī (circa 1260-1350), meaning "David from Kayseri", was a notable sufi scholar. Orhan built a school for him in Iznik. is the east exit of town - Lefke 31 km east is nowadays Osmaneli. The wall and gate are well preserved here and just outside is several hundred metres of Roman aqueduct. Çandarlı Hayrettin Paşa Tombs are 200 m east of Lefke Gate. The Çanda…