NICAEA, or

See also:

• NICE

NICE  [mod . Isnik, i.e . Eis NucaiavI an ancient town of Asia Minor, in Bithynia, on the Lake Ascania . Antigonus built the city (316 B.C . ?) on an old deserted site, and soon after-wards Lysimachus changed its name from Antigonia to Nicaea, calling it after his wife . Under the Roman empire Nicaea and Nicomedia disputed the title of metropolis of Bithynia . Strabo describes the ancient Nicaea as built regularly, in the form of a square, with a gate in the middle of each side . From a, monument in the centre of the city all the four gates were visible at the extremities of great cross-streets . After Constantinople became the capital of the empire Nicaea grew in importance, and after the conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders became the temporary seat of the Byzantine emperor; the double line of walls with the Roman gates is still well preserved . The possession of the city was long disputed between the Greeks and the Turks . It remained an important city for some time after its final incorporation in the Ottoman empire; but became subsequently an insignificant village .