Richly Tiled

By Dr Arjun Choong

withHistory

Schoolboys pose before a 16th century mosque

32 • SMA News July 2012

The town of Iznik, in the Province of Bursa, Turkey, is perhaps better known to the English-speaking reader as Nicaea. Today a small town with a laid-

back atmosphere, Iznik once served as the capital of several kingdoms and empires, beginning from the time of Alexander the Great’s successors to the Ottoman era. The city has an important place in the history of the Christian Church, and was where the First and Second Councils of Nicaea were held and where the Nicene Creed took its name from.

In 1077, Nicaea was captured from the Byzantine Empire by the Seljuk Turks, who made it their capital. The Byzantine Emperor then appealed for help from western Europeans to repel the invading Seljuks, a request that was one of the main factors that precipitated the First Crusade. Nicaea was where the first major siege of that conflict took place. The European crusaders were on the verge of victory when the Byzantine Emperor convinced the Seljuks to surrender to the Byzantines instead. This act worsened the distrust between the Byzantines and the crusaders, which influenced the subsequent course of the campaign.

INDULGE

A public fountain surfaced with Iznik tiles

The bishops’ seats in the Hagia Sophia, where the Second Council of Nicaea was held in AD 787

After the fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the ruling class of the Byzantine Empire fled to Nicaea, which became the capital of a successor state until the recapture of Constantinople by the Byzantines in 1261.

In 1331, Nicaea was conquered by the Ottoman Turks, who renamed it Iznik. When the Ottomans captured Constantinople in 1453, Iznik lost much of its significance, but would win fame as a centre for the production of painted ceramics. The Blue Mosque in Istanbul is so named for the Iznik tiles that cover the interior of the building, and ceramics shops in the Grand Bazaar brandish its name.

Today, much evidence of the city’s rich history is still visible through its architecture, including the city walls that date from the time of Alexander’s successors, the ruins of a Roman theatre, the Hagia Sophia and several other Byzantine-era buildings with their distinctive use of alternating layers of brick and stone, and the early Ottoman-era mosques.

Friends sharing a cup of tea at a roadside cafe

A mirror reflects a tailor at work

Playing okey at a cafe. The tile-based game is popular with both the young and old in Turkey, and is typically played over endless cups of Turkish tea served in tulip-shaped glasses, cigarettes and nargileh (hookah) Fishing at Lake Iznik

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Dr Choong wishes he knew how to stop travelling.

The production of hand-painted ceramics is still a major industry in the city, and here visitors can see the craftsmen at their work in historic buildings, which have been converted to workshops and shops.

Despite its history and the fame of its ceramics, Iznik today has a relaxed, provincial feel and her people are friendly. In the few hours it took for me to walk from one end of the town to the other, I was invited to tea by perfect strangers no fewer than three times, given free bread twice, and mobbed by children who wanted their photos taken. Those visiting Istanbul can easily take a day trip to Iznik (either by car, or by ferry across the Marmara Sea and then by road), and enjoy a welcome change of pace from the bustling metropolis.

Bread is a staple of the Turkish meal, and in Iznik it seems that one in three stores is a bakery with a glass storefront, through which the customer can see the baker turn his wares out of a wood-fired oven, as well as the large variety of bread on offer. The curious tourist is often rewarded with a breadstick

(Clockwise from left) Salad, ezme (spicy tomato salad), and Kemal Pasha dessert (a dessert similar to the Indian dessert gulab jamun) served with thick cream

Kofte (Turkish meat balls) served with green peppers and tomatoes

July 2012 SMA News • 35