İznik fits two thousand years into a few square kilometres. Walking inside its walls, we move from Rome to Byzantium, and from the Seljuks to the Ottomans.
- Duration
- Full day
- Distance
- About 6–8 km, flat
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Season
- Year-round
- Language
- English, Turkish
Along the way
- Roman and Byzantine walls, the Istanbul and Lefke gates
- Hagia Sophia and the story of the councils
- The Green Mosque and the rise of İznik tiles
- The lakeshore and the sunken basilica
- The Seljuks and the first Ottoman years
The story of this route
Known in antiquity as Nicaea, the town hosted the first ecumenical council of the Christian church in AD 325, and the council of 787 met in its Hagia Sophia, known today also as the Orhan Mosque. Briefly a Seljuk capital, İznik was taken by Orhan Gazi in 1331.
Under the Ottomans the town's name became a byword for tiles; many buildings, from Topkapı Palace to the Süleymaniye Mosque, are decorated with tiles from İznik's workshops. We end the day on the lakeshore, with the story of the basilica spotted underwater in 2014.
Who it suits
Anyone interested in history and architecture.
What to bring
- Comfortable shoes
- A hat and water in summer
