Iznik Through History

Iznik is located on the banks of the lake of the same name in the province of Bursa in the north western part of Anatolia.

In antiquity it lay within the borders of the Bithynian region. Iznik was colonized by the soldiers who escorted Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) during his conquests. When Antigonas Monophthalmus founded the city in 16 B.C., there was already a settlement of the Bottiaei people, called Elikore, but Antigonas called the town Antigoneia after himself.