Lake Iznik

Lake Iznik (Turkish: İznik Gölü) is a lake in the Province of Bursa, Turkey. It is around 32 km in length and 10 km in width with a maximum depth of about 80 m. The town of Iznik (historically known as Nicaea) lies at its eastern end. The lake's Ancient Greek name was Askania, (Ασκάνια).

History

In Greek mythology, during the Trojan War the region by the Lake İznik was held by the Phrygians, who sent troops to the aid of King Priam, led by the brothers Phorcys and Ascanius, sons of Aretaon as related in the Iliad.

Ascanius, son of Aretaon, should not be confused with Ascanius (son of Aeneas) or Ascanius (son of Priam), who also feature in legends of the Trojan War.

In the 1920s, the region was known for rice production.

In 2014, during aerial photography to survey the local monuments, the remains of an underwater Byzantine basilica -possibly erected in the 4th century- were identified, a discovery which was named one of the top 10 discoveries by the Archeological Institute of America. The basilica was dedicated to St. Neophytos of Nicaea and it is thought that the effects of an earthquake which took place in A.D. 740 provoked its collapse. Plans are on the way to establish an underwater museum.

İznik

İznik is a town and an administrative district in the Province of Bursa, Turkey. It was historically known as Nicaea (Greek: Νίκαια), from which its modern name also derives. The town lies in a fertile basin at the eastern end of Lake İznik, bounded by ranges of hills to the north and south. As the crow flies, the town is only 90 kilometres (56 miles) southeast of Istanbul but by road it is 200 km (124 miles) around the Gulf of Izmit. It is 80 km (50 miles) by road from Bursa.

The town is situated with its west wall rising from the lake itself, providing both protection from siege from that direction, as well as a source of supplies which would be difficult to cut off. The lake is large enough that it cannot be blockaded from the land easily, and the city was large enough to make any attempt to reach the harbour from shore-based siege weapons very difficult.

The city was surrounded on all sides by 5 km (3 mi) of walls about 10 m (33 ft) high. These were in turn surrounded by a double ditch on the land portions, and also included over 100 towers in various locations. Large gates on the three landbound sides of the walls provided the only entrance to the city.