Editing Nicaea

{{Short description|Ancient Greek city of Asia Minor}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name           = Nicaea
| native_name    = {{native name|grc|Νίκαια}}
| alternate_name = Nikaia
| image          = {{Photomontage
| photo1a        = Iznik Roman Theatre 1645.jpg
| photo2a        = Nicaea's Byzantine fortifications, Iznik, Turkey (38459580376).jpg 
| photo2b        = Iznik Wall at Lefke Gate 8275.jpg
| photo3a        = Ayasofya Iznik 903.jpg
| size           = 275
| spacing        = 2
| color          = none
| color_border   = white
}}
| image_size     = 
| alt            = 
| caption        = <div style="background:#fee8ab;"> Ruins of the Roman Theatre<br /> [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine-era]] city wall&nbsp;• Lefke Gate<br /> Orhan Mosque (formerly [[Hagia Sophia, İznik|Hagia Sophia]]) </div>
| map            = 
| map_type       = Turkey Marmara#Turkey
| map_alt        = 
| map_caption    = 
| map_size       = 
| mapframe       = <!-- "yes" to show an interactive map -->
| altitude_m     = <!-- Enter a number for altitude in meters (m) -->
| altitude_ref   = 
| relief         = 
| coordinates    = {{coord|40|25.74|N|29|43.17|E|region:TR|display=inline,title}}
| gbgridref      = 
| map_dot_label  = 
| location       = [[İznik]], [[Bursa Province]], [[Turkey]]
| region         = [[Bithynia]]
| type           = Settlement
| area           = {{convert|145|ha|acre|abbr=on}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=City Walls in Late Antiquity: An empire-wide perspective |publisher=Oxbow Books |year=2020 |isbn=9781789253672 |pages=83 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hdzdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA83 |editor-last=Intagliata |editor-first=Emmanuele |editor-last2=Barker |editor-first2=Simon J. |editor-last3=Christopher |editor-first3=Courault}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Topography and History of Ancient Epicnemidian Locris |publisher=BRILL |year=2013 |isbn=9789004256750 |pages=97 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QWFTAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA97 |editor-last=Pascual |editor-first=José |editor-last2=Papakonstantinou |editor-first2=Maria-Foteini}}</ref>
| cultures       = [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]], [[Culture of ancient Rome|Roman]], [[Byzantine Empire#Culture|Byzantine]], [[Culture of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]]
| event          = [[First Council of Nicaea|First]] and [[Second Council of Nicaea]]
| builder        = [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus]]<ref>{{Cite book |title=Hellenistic Civilization |last=Chamoux |first=François |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2008 |isbn=9780470752050 |pages=178 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T1kr4YGTA2AC&pg=PA178}}</ref>
| built          = {{circa|316}}<ref name="Haverfield">{{Cite book |title=Ancient Town-Planing |last=Haverfield |first=Francis J. |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |year=2020 |isbn=9783752307689 |pages=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z8nxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia |last=Dumper |first=Michael |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2007 |isbn=9781576079195 |pages=194 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&pg=PA194 |editor-last=Dumper |editor-first=Michael |editor-last2=Stanley |editor-first2=Bruce E.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Culture and Identity |last=April |first=Wilfred |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |year=2018 |isbn=9781789230406 |pages=26 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P2iQDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA26}}</ref> – 315<ref>{{Cite book |title=Roman State & Christian Church Volume 1: A Collection of Legal Documents to A.D. 535 |last=Coleman-Norton |first=Paul R. |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |year=2018 |isbn=9781725255647 |pages=126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_FL7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA126}}</ref><ref name="Britannica" /> BC
| discovered     = 
| excavations    = 
| archaeologists = 
| condition      = 
| ownership      = 
| management     = 
| public_access  = 
| other_designation     =
| website               = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| architectural_styles  =
| architectural_details =
| notes                 = 
}}

'''Nicaea''' (also spelled '''Nicæa''' or '''Nicea''', {{IPAc-en|n|aɪ|'|s|i:|ə}} {{respell|ny|SEE|ə}};<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/nicaea |title=Nicaea |access-date=2022-12-11 |work=[[Collins English Dictionary]] |publisher=[[HarperCollins]]}}</ref> {{IPA|la|niːˈkae̯.a|lang}}), also known as '''Nikaia''' ({{langx|grc|{{wikt-lang|grc|Νίκαια}}}}, <small>[[Attic Greek|Attic]]:</small> {{IPA|el|nǐːkai̯a|}}, <small>[[Koine Greek|Koine]]:</small> {{IPA|el|ˈnikεa|}}), was an ancient Greek city in the north-western [[Anatolia]]n region of [[Bithynia]].<ref name="Haverfield" /><ref>{{Cite book |title=Alexander's Veterans and the Early Wars of the Successors |publisher=Oxbow Books |year=2020 |isbn=9781789254990 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cc0HEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT158 |editor-last=D'Agostini |editor-first=Monica |editor-last2=Anson |editor-first2=Edward M. |editor-last3=Pownall |editor-first3=Frances}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Alexander's Veterans and the Early Wars of the Successors |last=Roisman |first=Joseph |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=2012 |isbn=9780292735965 |pages=237 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzPlDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA237}}</ref> It was the site of the [[First Council of Nicaea|First]] and [[Second Council of Nicaea|Second]] Councils of Nicaea (the first and seventh [[Ecumenical council]]s in the early history of the [[Christian Church]]), the [[Nicene Creed]] (which comes from the First Council). It was also the capital city of the [[Empire of Nicaea]] following the [[Fourth Crusade]] in 1204, until the recapture of [[Constantinople]] by the Byzantines in 1261. Nicaea was also the capital of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] from 1331 to 1335.

The ancient city is located within the modern [[Turkey|Turkish]] city of [[İznik]] (whose modern name derives from Nicaea's), and is situated in a fertile basin at the eastern end of [[Lake Ascanius]], bounded by ranges of hills to the north and south. It is situated with its west wall rising from the lake itself, providing both protection from siege from that direction, as well as a source of supplies which would be difficult to cut off. The lake is large enough that it could not be blockaded from the land easily, and the city was large enough to make any attempt to reach the harbour from shore-based siege weapons very difficult.

The ancient city is surrounded on all sides by {{convert|5|km|mi|0}} of walls about {{convert|10|m|ft|0}} high. These are in turn surrounded by a double ditch on the land portions, and also included over 100 towers in various locations. Large gates on the three landbound sides of the walls provided the only entrance to the city. Today, the walls have been pierced in many places for roads, but much of the early work survives; as a result, it is a tourist destination.

==History==

===Early history===
[[File:Istanbul_Gate,_Iznik,_Turkey_(37659560615).jpg|thumb|250px|The Constantinople Gate]]
[[File:Lefke Kapisi Iznik 932a.jpg|thumb|250px|The Lefke Gate, part of Nicaea's city walls]]

The place is said to have been colonized by [[Bottiaeans]], and to have originally borne the name of '''Ancore''' (Ἀγκόρη) or '''Helicore''' (Ἑλικόρη), or by soldiers of [[Alexander the Great]]'s army who hailed from [[Nicaea (Locris)|Nicaea]] in [[Locris]], near [[Thermopylae]]. The later version, however, was not widespread, even in Antiquity.{{sfn|Stefanidou|2003|loc=[http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaid=8503&boithimata_State=&kefalaia_State=#chapter_2 2. Foundation, other names]}} Whatever the truth, the first Greek colony on the site was probably destroyed by the [[Mysians]], and it fell to [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus]], one of Alexander's successors (''[[Diadochi]]'') to refound the city {{circa|315 BC}} as '''Antigoneia''' (Ἀντιγονεία) after himself.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Nicaea |volume=19 |page=640}}</ref> Antigonus is also known to have established Bottiaean soldiers in the vicinity, lending credence to the tradition about the city's founding by Bottiaeans. Following Antigonus' defeat and death at the [[Battle of Ipsus]] in 301 BC, the city was captured by [[Lysimachus]], who renamed it '''Nicaea''' ({{lang|grc|[[wikt:Νίκαια|Νίκαια]]}}, also [[Transliteration|transliterated]] as '''Nikaia''' or '''Nicæa'''; see also [[List of traditional Greek place names]]), in tribute to his wife [[Nicaea of Macedon|Nicaea]], who had recently died.{{sfn|Stefanidou|2003|loc=[http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaid=8503&boithimata_State=&kefalaia_State=#chapter_2 2. Foundation, other names]}}

Sometime before 280 BC, the city came under the control of the [[List of rulers of Bithynia|local dynasty]] of the kings of [[Bithynia]]. This marks the beginning of its rise to prominence as a seat of the royal court, as well as of its rivalry with [[Nicomedia]]. The two cities' dispute over which one was the pre-eminent city (signified by the appellation ''[[metropolis]]'') of Bithynia continued for centuries, and the 38th oration of [[Dio Chrysostom]] was expressly composed to settle the dispute.{{sfn|Stefanidou|2003|loc=[http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaid=8503&boithimata_State=&kefalaia_State=#chapter_3 3. History]}}<ref name="DGRG">''DGRG'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aentry%3Dnicaea-geo Nicaea]</ref>

[[Plutarch]] mentioned that Menecrates (Μενεκράτης) wrote about the history of the city.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg001.perseus-grc1:26 Plutarch, Life of Theseus, 26]</ref> In [[Greek mythology]], Nicaea supposedly took its name from [[Nicaea (mythology)|Nicaea]], a nymph whom the god [[Dionysus]] got drunk and raped; he later named the city after her.<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca02nonnuoft/page/20/mode/2up?view=theater 16.244–280]; [[Memnon of Heraclea]], ''History of Heraclea'' book 15, as epitomized by [[Photius I of Constantinople|Photius of Constantinople]] in his ''[[Bibliotheca (Photius)|Myriobiblon]]'' [https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_copyright/photius_06bibliotheca.htm 223.28]</ref>

=== Roman period ===
[[File:Iznik_Theatre_1644.jpg|thumb|250px|The theatre, restored by [[Pliny the Younger]]]]
Along with the rest of Bithynia, Nicaea came under the rule of the [[Roman Republic]] in 72 BC. The city remained one of the most important urban centres of [[Asia Minor]] throughout the Roman period, and continued its old competition with Nicomedia over pre-eminence and the location of the seat of the [[Roman governor]] of [[Bithynia et Pontus]].{{sfn|Stefanidou|2003|loc=[http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaid=8503&boithimata_State=&kefalaia_State=#chapter_3 3. History]}} The geographer [[Strabo]] (XII.565 ff.) described the city as built in the typical [[Hellenistic]] fashion with great regularity, in the form of a square, measuring 16 [[stadion (unit of length)|stadia]] in circumference, i.e. approx. {{convert|700x700|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} or {{convert|0.7x0.7|km|mi|2|abbr=on}} covering an area of some {{convert|50|ha|acre|0|abbr=on}} or {{convert|0.5|km2|sqmi|1|abbr=on}}; it had four gates, and all its streets intersected one another at right angles in accordance with the [[Hippodamian plan]], so that from a monument in the centre all the four gates could be seen.<ref name="DGRG"/>{{sfn|Stefanidou|2003|loc=[http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaid=8503&boithimata_State=&kefalaia_State=#chapter_5 5. Culture - architecture]}} This monument stood in the [[Gymnasium (ancient Greece)|gymnasium]], which was destroyed by fire but was restored with increased magnificence by [[Pliny the Younger]], when he was governor there in the early 2nd century AD. In his writings Pliny makes frequent mention of Nicaea and its public buildings.<ref name="DGRG"/>

Emperor [[Hadrian]] visited the city in 123 AD after it had been severely damaged by an earthquake and began to rebuild it. The new city was enclosed by a polygonal wall of some 5 kilometres in length. Reconstruction was not completed until the 3rd century, and the new set of walls failed to save Nicaea from being sacked by the [[Goths]] in 258 AD.{{sfn|Stefanidou|2003|loc=[http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaid=8503&boithimata_State=&kefalaia_State=#chapter_3 3. History]}}{{sfn|Stefanidou|2003|loc=[http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaid=8503&boithimata_State=&kefalaia_State=#chapter_5 5. Culture - architecture]}} The numerous coins of Nicaea which still exist attest the interest taken in the city by the [[Roman emperors]], as well as its attachment to the rulers; many of them commemorate great festivals celebrated there in honor of gods and emperors, as [[Ancient Greek Olympic festivals|Olympia]], [[Isthmia (ancient city)|Isthmia]], [[Dionysia]], [[Pythian Games|Pythia]], [[Commodus|Commodia]], [[Severan dynasty|Severia]], Philadelphia, etc.<ref name="DGRG"/>

=== Christian Councils ===
{{main|First Council of Nicaea|Second Council of Nicaea|l1=First}}
[[Christianity in the Roman Empire|Christianity]] became a legal religion of the Roman Empire in the reign of [[Constantine the Great|Constantine I]] (also known as Constantine the Great) by the [[Edict of Milan]] in 313.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Roman Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia |last=Ermatinger |first=James W. |publisher=ABC-CILO |year=2018 |isbn=9781440838095 |pages=31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=onlUDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA31}}</ref> Constantine [[Constantine the Great and Christianity|patronized]] Christianity and supported it by granting privileges, and became the first [[Roman emperor|Roman Emperor]] to adopt Christianity, but he did not get [[Baptism|baptised]] until [[Constantine the Great#Illness and death|just before he died]] in [[Nicomedia]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Remembering Constantine at the Milvian Bridge |last=Van Dam |first=Raymond |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |isbn=9781139499729 |pages=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JS468l8Rnu0C&pg=PA20}}</ref> Constantine laid the groundwork for the majority of the population to become Christians, predominantly, the [[State church of the Roman Empire|empire's formal religion]] in 380.

The [[Nicene Creed]], ({{langx|grc|Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας|Sýmbolon tês Nikaías}}; {{langx|la|Symbolum Nicaenum}}; {{lit|lk=no|Symbol of Nicaea}}) which declared [[Jesus]] to be [[Roman god|God]], and became the foundation of church doctrine,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions |publisher=Routledge |year=2015 |isbn=9781134625529 |pages=285 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dXH4CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA285 |editor-last=Orlin |editor-first=Eric}}</ref> was adopted at the first Roman Ecumenical Christian council in this city in 325.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ray |first=J. David |date=2007 |title=Nicea and its Aftermath: A Historical Survey of the First Ecumenical Council and the Ensuing Conflicts |url=https://biblicalstudies.gospelstudies.org.uk/pdf/ashland_theological_journal/39-1_019.pdf |journal=Ashland Theological Journal |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=20–21}}</ref> This council also condemned [[Goths|Gothic]] Christian [[Arianism]],<ref>{{Cite book |title=Blind Faith: How Christianity Abandoned God: Part One: the Trinity Doctrine |last=Nelson |first=Daniel N. |publisher=BookCountry |year=2016 |isbn=9781463007645 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PRXOCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT42}}</ref> which was later adopted by many [[barbarian kingdoms]], and led to the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|destruction]] of the [[Western Roman Empire|Western Empire]] for the century to come.

After shifting the council for four centuries, the [[Second Council of Nicaea|Ecumenical Council was held]] in Nicaea again in 787. This council was called by the [[List of Byzantine emperors|Emperor]] of the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Empire]], [[Constantine VI]], [[Irene of Athens|Empress Irene]], who later became the first female emperor, and attended by [[Pope Adrian I|Pope Hadrian I]]. It addressed the [[Byzantine Iconoclasm|iconoclastic controversy]] and recognized the veneration of Christian images of Jesus and the saints as legitimate.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Roots of the Reformation: Tradition, Emergence and Rupture |last=Evans |first=G. R. |publisher=InterVarsity Press |year=2012 |isbn=9780830839476 |pages=99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gLF-F4jsljQC&pg=PA99}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Relations Between Religions and Cultures in Southeast Asia |publisher=CRVP |year=2009 |isbn=9781565182509 |pages=115–6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udYfoEqlbKQC&pg=PA115 |editor-last=Adrian |editor-first=Donny Gahral |editor-last2=Arivia |editor-first2=Gadis}}</ref> The council also forbade the secular appointment of [[bishop]]s, thus solidifying the independent authority of the church against that of the state.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Evangelical Dictionary of World Religions |publisher=Baker Books |year=2019 |isbn=9781493415908 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sw9YDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT604 |editor-last=House |editor-first=H. Wayne}}</ref>

=== Byzantine period ===
By the 4th century, Nicaea was a large and prosperous city, and a major military and administrative centre. Emperor [[Constantine the Great]] convened the [[First Ecumenical Council]] there, and the city gave its name to the [[Nicene Creed]].<ref name="DGRG"/>{{sfn|Foss|1991|p=1463}} The city remained important in the 4th century, seeing the proclamation of Emperor [[Valens]] (364) and the failed rebellion of [[Procopius (usurper)|Procopius]] (365). During the same period, the [[See of Nicaea]] became independent of Nicomedia and was raised to the status of a [[metropolitan bishop]]ric. However, the city was hit by two major earthquakes in 363 and 368, and coupled with competition from the newly established capital of the [[Eastern Roman Empire|Eastern Empire]], [[Constantinople]], it began to decline thereafter. Many of its grand civic buildings began to fall into ruin, and had to be restored in the 6th century by Emperor [[Justinian I]], among them the aqueduct built by Hadrian.{{sfn|Foss|1991|p=1463}}

[[File:The Beştaş Obelisk, an obelisk-like funeral monument of Gaius Cassius Philieus located outside Nicaea, 1st century AD, Iznik, Turkey (38605773032).jpg|200px|thumb|The Beştaş Obelisk, an obelisk-like funeral monument of Gaius Cassius Philieus located outside Nicaea, 1st century AD, Iznik, Turkey .]]

The city disappears from sources thereafter and is mentioned again in the early 8th century: in 715, the deposed emperor [[Anastasios II]] fled there, and the city successfully resisted attacks by the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] in [[Second Arab Siege of Constantinople|716]] and [[Siege of Nicaea (727)|727]].{{sfn|Foss|1991|p=1463}} The city was again damaged by the [[740 Constantinople earthquake]], served as the base of the rebellion of [[Artabasdos]] in 741/2, and served as the meeting-place of the [[Second Ecumenical Council]], which condemned [[Byzantine Iconoclasm]], in 787 (the council probably met in the [[basilica]] of [[Hagia Sophia, Iznik|Hagia Sophia]]).{{sfn|Foss|1991|pp=1463–1464}} Nicaea became the capital of the [[Opsician Theme]] in the 8th century and remained a center of administration and trade. A [[Jews|Jewish]] community is attested in the city in the 10th century. Due to its proximity to Constantinople, the city was contested in the rebellions of the 10th and 11th centuries as a base from which to threaten the capital. It was in the wake of such a rebellion, that of [[Nikephoros Melissenos]], that it fell into the hands of Melissenos' Turkish allies in 1081.{{sfn|Foss|1991|p=1464}} The [[Seljuk Turks]] made Nicaea the capital of their [[Sultanate of Rum|possessions]] in Asia Minor until 1097, when it returned to Byzantine control with the aid of the [[First Crusade]] after a [[Siege of Nicaea|one month siege]].{{sfn|Foss|1991|p=1464}}

The 12th century saw a period of relative stability and prosperity at Nicaea. The [[Komnenos dynasty|Komnenian]] emperors Alexios, John and Manuel campaigned extensively to strengthen the Byzantine presence in Asia Minor. Alexios seems to have repaired the aqueduct after the reconquest<ref name="Aqueduct">{{cite journal |last1=Benjelloun |first1=Yacine |last2=de Sigoyer |first2=Julia |last3=Dessales |first3=Hélène |last4=Garambois |first4=Stéphane |last5=Şahin |first5=Mustafa |title=Construction history of the aqueduct of Nicaea (Iznik, NW Turkey) and its on-fault deformation viewed from archaeological and geophysical investigations |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports |date=1 October 2018 |volume=21 |pages=389–400 |doi=10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.08.010|bibcode=2018JArSR..21..389B |s2cid=133680295 |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02958450v2/file/Benjelloun_et_al_2018_HAL2.pdf }}</ref> and major fortifications were constructed across the region, especially by John and Manuel, which helped to protect the city and its fertile hinterland. There were also several military bases and colonies in the area, for example the one at [[Rhyndakos]] in Bithynia, where the emperor John spent a year training his troops in preparation for campaigns in southern Asia Minor.

After the [[siege of Constantinople|fall]] of Constantinople to the [[Fourth Crusade]] in 1204, and the establishment of the [[Latin Empire]], Nicaea escaped [[Latin occupation]] and maintained an autonomous stance. From 1206 on, it became the base of [[Theodore I Laskaris|Theodore Laskaris]], who in 1208 was crowned emperor there and founded the [[Empire of Nicaea]]. The [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]], exiled from Constantinople, also took up residence in the city until the [[recapture of Constantinople]] in 1261. Although Nicaea was soon abandoned as the primary residence of the Nicene emperors, who favoured [[Nymphaion (Ionia)|Nymphaion]] and [[Magnesia on the Maeander]], the period was a lively one in the city's history, with "frequent synods, embassies, and imperial weddings and funerals", while the influx of scholars from other parts of the Eastern Roman world made it a centre of learning as well.{{sfn|Foss|1991|p=1464}}

After the restoration of the Byzantine Empire in 1261, the city once again declined in importance. The neglect of the Asian frontier by [[Michael VIII Palaiologos]] provoked a major uprising in 1262, and in 1265, panic broke out when rumours circulated of an imminent [[Mongols|Mongol]] attack.{{sfn|Foss|1991|p=1464}} Emperor [[Andronikos II Palaiologos]] visited the city in 1290 and took care to restore its defences, but Byzantium proved unable to halt the rise of the nascent [[Ottoman emirate]] in the region.{{sfn|Foss|1991|p=1464}} After Emperor [[Andronikos III Palaiologos]] and [[John VI Kantakouzenos|John Kantakouzenos]] were defeated at [[Battle of Pelekanon|Pelekanon]] on 11 June 1329, the Byzantine government could no longer defend Nicaea. Nicaea finally surrendered to the Ottomans after a [[Siege of Nicaea (1328–31)|long siege]] 2 March 1331.<ref>Donald M. Nicol, ''The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261-1453'', second edition (Cambridge: University Press, 1993), pp. 169f</ref>

===Ottoman Empire===
{{main|İznik}}
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]}}

==Ruins==
===City walls===
[[File:Iznik Wall at Lefke Gate 8274.jpg|thumb|right|İznik Walls at the Lefke Gate]]
The ancient walls, with their towers and gates, are relatively well preserved. Their circumference is {{convert|3100|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, being at the base from {{convert|5|to|7|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} in thickness, and from {{convert|10|to|13|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} in height; they contain four large and two small gates. In most places they are formed of alternate courses of Roman tiles and large square stones, joined by a cement of great thickness. In some places columns and other architectural fragments from the ruins of more ancient edifices have been inserted. As with those of Constantinople, the walls seem to have been built in the 4th century. Some of the towers have [[Byzantine Greek language|Greek]] inscriptions.<ref name="Comp. pp. 10">Comp. [[William Martin Leake]], ''Asia Minor'', pp. 10, foll.; Von Prokesch-Osten, ''Erinnerungen'', iii. pp. 321,foll.; [[Richard Pococke]], ''Journey in Asia Minor'', iii. pp. 181, foll.; Walpole,'Turkey'[', ii. p. 146; Eckhel, ''Doctr. Num.'' i. pp. 423, foll.; Rasche, ''Lexic. Rei Num.'' iii. l. pp. 1374, foll.</ref>

===Inner city structures===
The ruins of mosques, baths, and houses, dispersed among the gardens and apartment buildings that now occupy a great part of the space within the Roman and Byzantine fortifications, show that the Ottoman-era town center, though now less considerable, was once a place of importance; but it never was as large as the Byzantine city. It seems to have been almost entirely constructed of the remains of the Byzantine-era Nicaea, the walls of the ruined mosques and baths being full of the fragments of ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine temples and churches.<ref name="Comp. pp. 10"/>

In the northwestern parts of the town, two moles extend into the lake and form a harbour; but the lake in this part has much retreated, and left a marshy plain. Outside the walls are the remnants of an ancient aqueduct.<ref name="Comp. pp. 10"/>

===Church of the Dormition===
[[File:Church of the Dormition in Nicaea.jpg|thumb|Church of the Dormition in Nicaea.]]

The Church of the Dormition, the principal Greek Orthodox church in Nicaea, was one of the most architecturally important Byzantine churches in [[Asia Minor]]. A domed church with a cross-shaped nave and elongated apse, and dating from the perhaps as early as the end of the 6th century, its bema was decorated with very fine mosaics that had been restored in the 9th century. The Church of the Dormition was destroyed by the Turks in 1922; only the lower portions of some of its walls survive today.<ref name=Mango90>Cyril Mango, "Byzantine Architecture", p. 90.</ref>

===Ottoman kilns===
[[File:Iznik Kilns excavations 8296.jpg|thumb|250px|Iznik kilns excavations]]

Excavations are underway in the Ottoman kilns where the historic Nicean tiles were made.

===Hagia Sophia church===
[[File:Hagia Sophia Iznik.JPG|right|thumb|250px|[[Hagia Sophia, İznik|Hagia Sophia]] in 2012]]

The [[Hagia Sophia, İznik|Hagia Sophia]] church of Nicaea is undergoing restoration.

===Underwater basilica===
Under the shallow waters on the margin of Lake Iznik, at a site still located on firm ground on the lakeshore in Byzantine times, the ruins of a 4th-century basilica were found. It might well be the site of the [[First Council of Nicaea]].<ref>[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/church-site-christianitys-most-important-13257544.amp Church that was 'site of some of Christianity's most important events' discovered under lake in Turkey]. By Elaine McCahill for [[Daily Mirror|The Mirror]], 16 Sep 2018. Accessed 3 Sep 2023.</ref>

===Herakles relief===
Eight kilometers from the city there is an ancient, human-size, [[Herakles]] relief engraved on a rock.<ref>[https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/2-000-year-old-hercules-relief-damaged-156765 2,000-year-old Hercules relief damaged]</ref>

==See of Nicaea==
{{main|See of Nicaea}}
{{See also|Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nicaea}}
The bishopric of Nicaea remains as a [[titular see]] of the [[Roman Catholic Church]],<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 939</ref> which has left the seat vacant since the death of its last [[titular bishop]] in 1976.<ref>[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d2n41.html Catholic-Hierarchy.org]</ref> It is also a titular [[metropolitan bishop|metropolitan]] see of the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]]. The incumbent 2001–2010 was the former [[Finnish Orthodox Church|Archbishop of Karelia and All Finland]], Metropolitan [[John Rinne|Johannes (Rinne)]].<ref>{{cite web
| url         = http://www.ec-patr.org/hierarchs/show.php?lang=gr&id=4
| title       = Biography of Metropolitan Johannes (Rinne) of Nicea
| access-date = 2008-10-18
| publisher   = Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
| language    = el
}}</ref>

==People==
*[[Hipparchus]] (BC ca.190 - ca.120), Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Hipparchus | volume= 13 |last1= Clerke |first1= Agnes Mary |author1-link= Agnes Mary Clerke | page = 516 |short=1}}</ref>
*[[Cassius Dio]] (AD ca.150 – ca.235), Roman historian.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Dio Cassius | volume= 8 | pages = 278&ndash;279 |short= 1}}</ref>
*[[Sporus of Nicaea]] (ca.240 – ca.300), Greek mathematician and astronomer
*[[Georgius Pachymeres]] (1242&nbsp;– ca.1310), Byzantine historian.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Pachymeres, Georgius | volume= 20 | page = 433 |short= 1}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of ancient Greek cities]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = Nicaea| last = Foss | first = Clive | pages = 1463–1464 | editor-first = Alexander | editor-last = Kazhdan | editor-link=Alexander Kazhdan | encyclopedia = [[Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]] | location = London and New York | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1991 | isbn = 978-0-19-504652-6 }}
* {{ cite book | last=Raby | first=Julian | year=1989 | contribution=İznik, 'Une village au milieu des jardins' | editor-last=Petsopoulos | editor-first=Yanni | title=Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey | publisher=Alexandra Press | place=London | isbn=978-1-85669-054-6  | pages=19–22 }}
* {{ cite book | last=Sestini | first=Domenico | year=1789 | title= Voyage dans la Grèce asiatique, à la péninsule de Cyzique, à Brusse et à Nicée: avec des détails sur l'histoire naturelle de ces contrées | publisher=Leroy | place=London and Paris | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YfsOAAAAQAAJ | language=French }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | last = Stefanidou | first = Vera | title = Nicaea (Antiquity) | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor | publisher = Foundation of the Hellenic World | year = 2003 | url = http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=8503 }}
* {{DGRG|title=Nicaea|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aentry%3Dnicaea-geo}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Nicaea}}
{{Wiktionary|Nicaea}}
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070103182027/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/gazetteer/0243.html Hazlitt, Classical Gazetteer, "Nicæa"]}}
* T. Bekker-Nielsen, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120301120432/http://www.pontos.dk/publications/books/black-sea-studies-7 ''Urban Life and Local Politics in Roman Bithynia: The Small World of Dion Chrysostomos''] Aarhus, 2008.
* Çetinkaya, Halûk. [http://actual-art.org/files/sb/09/Cetinkaya.pdf Four Newly Discovered Churches in Bithynia]. ''Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art: Collection of articles. Vol. 9.'' Ed: A. V. Zakharova, S. V. Maltseva, E. Iu. Staniukovich-Denisova. Lomonosov Moscow State University/St. Petersburg, NP-Print, 2019, pp.&nbsp;244–252. ISSN 2312-2129.
{{Hellenistic colonies}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicaea}}
[[Category:Nicaea| ]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 4th century BC]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey]]
[[Category:Populated places in Bithynia]]
[[Category:Populated places of the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:Crusade places]]
[[Category:Antigonid colonies]]
[[Category:Roman towns and cities in Turkey]]
[[Category:İznik]]
[[Category:Capitals of the Ottoman Empire]]