Tiles, Ruins and Bumpy Boat-Rides in Iznik

Our Late Antiquity to Byzantine archaeology class took a trip this past Friday to the town of Iznik, which is a boat ride across the Sea of Marmara and then about a 40 minute drive East.



Elif and Emily on  our pleasant boat ride on the way to Iznik

After a pleasant boat ride from the Eminonu district to the shores of Anatolia, we drove about 40 minutes, by plush fields of agriculture.  I spotted lettuce, wine vineyards, and then we drove by the picturesque Lake Iznik, a large lake on which the town of Iznik is located on the most Eastern shores.

Lake Iznik

Once in Iznik, we head to the city walls, built just after the Goths invaded the area in 258 C.E., they were constructed as a means of defense from future attacks.

map of the ancient cityscape

entrance gate to the ancient city

You can see in this photo the hole in which a lifting mechanism would of been placed to list a large gate resting between the stone layers of the gate.

the point of attachment of the gate to the city walls

After observing the gate and the walls in detail, we were able to surmise that there are clear dilineation of style, indicating different stages of construction; the gate is early antique, evidenced by the large ashlar stone and the more rudimentary cornice decorations.  The brick used for the walls has at least two different stages...

The use of spolia is a clear indicator that multiple stages of development in a place, which tells us that multiple civilizations inhabited the same city.  Spolia are the ruins of individual pieces of antiquity, for instance a column, and they are commonly reintegrated into the body of monuments of a later date.

our first sighting of spolia, a half column built into the walls

beware of falling rocks!

the houses in Iznik are generally one story, and many had plentiful flower arrangements outside

remains of a küçük Ayasofya

After observing the Ayasofya for an hour or so, we decided it was time for lunch.  We meandered down the main street of Iznik, into a little restaurant that turned out to be quite good.  Not only did they have a plethora of vegetarian options (as in they did not use meat-broth in their "veggie" dishes), they also had the Antakyan dish, Künefe, which is a bird's nest type pastry, soaked in a honey-like syrup, and lightly (?) fried with a sweet cheese on the inside.

Künefe

After lunch we went to the ruins of the 4th century St. Sophia Church.  After Constantine converted to Christianity, he called the first Council of Nicea (modern Iznik) in 325 C.E., to be held in the St. Sophia.  It was here that the first (of seven) worldwide council of the Christian Church was held in 325 C.E.  Around 300 bishops gathered for the first time to discuss doctrinal issues such as whether Christ was equal to or different than (Arianism) God were deliberated over.  Again in 787 C.E. bishops gathered for the Second Council of Nicea, at which iconoclasm (the use of icons as a means of religious worship) was tackled, restoring the veneration, but not worship of icons in the Byzantine Empire.

checking out the tiles

The presence of a semicircular altar apse indicates that this church was built with the plan to have a bishopric here...

If you know anything about Iznik, it should be about their tiles.  They are most famous for highly decorative tile production that was most popular in the 16th century.  These tiles are used in the royal palaces and mosques of Istanbul, so I thought it quite funny that street trashcans in Iznik are decorated with these lavish tile patterns.

Yeşil Camii, (green Mosque)

viewof the beautiful green minaret

We made friends with some local puppies...

Elif happened to have cat food in her bag...because she is an avid animal lover and I guess is always prepared for situations such as this.

see the spolia? 
This is some serious spolia; the rectangular shapes on the left side of the photo are marble faces that have been placed within the wall, quite decorative.  On the right are also some columns.

close up of the marble facades

gate at the other side of the city

and the dogs followed us...
After looking at the other city gate, we got in the bus and took a short ride to...a tile "factory," a very, very nice factory.  In our world of capitalism, Iznik tiles have become mass produced so that in Istanbul Grand Bazaar (and throughout the world), one can find Iznik tile patterns on plastic ceramics.  The Iznik Foundation (http://www.iznik.com/) makes very high quality tiles in the traditional Iznik style.  To give you an idea of how high quality their tiles are, instead of using ingredients for regular ceramic pottery, the Iznik Tile Foundation uses finely ground-up quartz in their tiles.  Very nice.

a painting station, you can see a tile in the design stage at top and a further along tile at bottom

employee working on a tea cup

The Iznik Foundation employs mainly women, from positions of transfering tile to the crafts(wo)men who paint and glaze the tiles.  Given that the Iznik Foundation does quite well financially, (they were just given a job of providing tiles for a mall in Dubai), this provides local woman with a wonderful financial and career opportunity.

design for a tile



after one glaze


Iznik Foundation glazes and fires their tiles at least three times, if not four.  A lot compared to the regular one or two.

tiles that have just been glazed...about to be fired?

so cool.

Now, we visited the gift shop, and learned that there really is a hefty price for these quality goods.
"Çok pahalı" - very expensive.  One candle holder cost about $85...

final place setting

incense holder on left, platter on right

We departed Iznik after a quick çay at a local cafe.  The hour-long ferry home was not as peaceful as it had been on the way there.  They were not kidding about big waves...we felt sorry for the clean up crew.

We all survived, however, and most of us headed off to the Beşiktaş area of Istanbul for a bite and a beer.  Beşiktaş is definitely at the top of my list of neighborhoods to move to next year.  There are a lot of pubs and bazaars, but it also attracts a younger, laid back crowd, as opposed some other more crazy areas. To be looked into at a future date...

Nick also had to pick up the turkey from Canan's fridge, in preparation for the next day's Thanksgiving celebration....(next entry)

on our way back to Sariyer, Nick with our 15 pound turkey in tow

iyi geceler - goodnight!