Editing Nicaea (section)

===Ottoman Empire===
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In 1331, [[Orhan]] [[Siege of Nicaea (1328–31)|captured the city]] from the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] and for a short period the town became the capital of the expanding Ottoman emirate.{{sfn|Raby|1989|p=19–20}} Many of its public buildings were destroyed, and the materials were used by the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]] in erecting their mosques and other edifices. The large church of Hagia Sophia in the centre of the town was converted into a mosque and became known as the Orhan Mosque.<ref>{{citation| last=Tsivikis | first= Nikolaos | date=23 March 2007 | title=Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor | contribution= Nicaea, Church of Hagia Sophia | publisher= Foundation of the Hellenic World | url=http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaID=8506| access-date=20 September 2014}}.</ref> A madrasa and baths were built nearby.<ref>{{citation | title= St. Sophia Museum | url= http://archnet.org/sites/2035 | publisher=ArchNet | access-date=20 September 2014}}.</ref> In 1334 Orhan built a mosque and an ''[[imaret]]'' (soup kitchen) just outside the Yenişehir gate (Yenişehir Kapısı) on the south side of the town.{{sfn|Raby|1989|p=20}} With the [[fall of Constantinople]] in 1453, the town lost a great degree of its importance, but later became a major centre with the creation of a local [[Faience|faïence]] pottery industry in the 17th century.  Thereafter, it slowly faded away as it lost population.  In 1779, the Italian archaeologist Domenico Sestini wrote that it was nothing but an abandoned town with no life, no noise and no movement.{{sfn|Raby|1989|p=20}}{{sfn|Sestini|1789 |pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=YfsOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA219 219–220]}}