Town walls, Iznik

The outstanding sight in Iznik is the imposing circuit of ancient walls, reminiscent of the walls of Constantinople but on a smaller scale. Although partly ruined and overgrown they are still extraordinarily impressive. Little is left of the old Greek walls. Roman rebuilding in the first century A.D. altered the original square plan to a polygon with a total extent of 4,427m/4,842yds. The towers flanking the gates and the masonry superstructure were added by the Byzantines. The finest section of wall on the west side of the town is built with stone from earlier structures and dates from the reign of Emperor Leo the Isaurian (inscription). Considerable stretches of the wall were built during the Seljuk period. The inner circuit of walls (9m/30ft high and 3.5m/11.5ft wide) originally had a battlemented parapet walk. Projecting from the wall are 108 towers with entrances from within the walls.