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Photographer’s Note

The city of Iznik is surrounded by Roman walls 4427 metres in length. Visitors from the north enter the city through Istanbul Gate, above whose triple arch masks of a man and a woman look as if they belong here, although in fact they were moved here from another building in the city at a later date. The Yenisehir and Lefke gates are also triple-arched. The fourth Göl (Lake) Gate is no longer standing. Like other northerners we entered Iznik through Istanbul Gate. According to Strabo, the famous geographer of the ancient world, Iznik was founded in 316 BC by Antigonus, one of Alexander the Great's generals, who named it Antigoneia. Lysimachos, another of Alexander's generals, later took the city and renamed it after his wife Nicea. Following his death, the city was taken by the Bithynians, Romans, Goths and once again the Romans. When the Emperor Constantine was converted to Christianity in 313 AD, Iznik became an important religious centre. The Nicene Creed was adopted here at the First Ecumenical Council held in 325 in the Senatus Palace, which today lies beneath the waters of the lake.Iznik, a city and district in the province of Bursa, has many historic monuments. These include a 15.5 metre high obelisk-like tombstone known as Bestas (the Five Stones) in the village of Elbeyli erected in the 2nd century to mark the grave of Cassius Philiscus.

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Additional Photos by Ozhan Gursoy (nirvana73) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 857 W: 1 N: 277] (8848)
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