SAINTE-SOPHIE MOSQUE (AYASOFYA CAMI)
In the city center, at the point where Atatürk Caddesi and Kılıçaslan Caddesi meet, amidst roses, we discover the remains of three successive basilicas. The floor was raised during the first two constructions. Originally, the building was the magnificent Church of Saint Sophia (Church of Divine Wisdom), dating from the reign of Justinian (6th century). In 787, it housed the deliberations of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, which rejected iconoclasm. And today, a visit is justified by the floor mosaic and the mural depicting Christ, the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist, to the left of the nave, the only remains of this first church, destroyed in 1065 by an earthquake. Aya Sofya was rebuilt on its remains and the new basilica was enriched with mosaic murals. It was converted into a mosque after the Ottomans took Nicaea in 1331. Suleiman the Magnificent adorned the new building with earthenware, but it was destroyed again in the 16th century, this time by fire. Its reconstruction was then undertaken under the direction of the brilliant Mimar Sinan, Turkey's most famous architect, who had the walls tiled using the glazed earthenware for which the city was already famous. Saint Sophia is one of the must-see monuments on a visit to peaceful Iznik. You'll find it on the corner of rue Kılıçaslan and rue Atatürk Caddesi. Well worth a visit.
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