THE WALLS: ENCLOSURES AND DOORS
The city walls and gates are worth a short walk to inspect: the whole is well preserved and this is not so common. Allow about an hour for a quick tour.
The walls date back to Roman times (except for the Byzantine outer wall) but have been consolidated and raised many times. Nicaea had four main gates and twelve secondary gates for a wall length of about 5,000 m. The western gate, that of the lake, has completely disappeared. You can start the tour at the Lefke Gate, at the eastern end of Kılıçaslan Caddesi. It consists of three separate gates. A little further on, on the outer side, there remains a 6th-century aqueduct and some tombs, including that of Candarlı Halil Hayrettin Paşa (late 14th century). Go back through the Lefke Gate and turn left along the walls to the Yenişehir Gate (south gate). Halfway through, you pass by the ruins of the Koimesis church (8th century). Almost nothing remains of it, but this is where the Byzantine emperor Theodore Lascaris, who set up his court in Nicaea after the Crusaders took Constantinople in 1204, is buried. Once at the Yenişehir Gate, take a right into Atatürk Caddesi, back into the city, and halfway through the center, a street on the left leads to the ruins of the Roman Theater. Continuing straight on to the end of Atatürk Caddesi, you reach the Istanbul Gate, the best preserved of the three gates.
