East Gate 1

East Gate 1

A view of looking west at the outermost opening—of three—of the East Gate, which is located on the east side of Nicea (Iznik).  In Turkish, this is called the Lefke Kapi.

Note the two round towers here on the outside of the walls and the variety of stones reused in the build of this outer gate.

The "Lefke Kapi" is one of the four major gates of ancient Nicea.  An inscription above this gate indicates that it was built by a proconsul Marcus Plancius Varus. These gates were embedded into the late first century A.C. wall (Flavian walls) that were rebuilt after the Goths destroyed them in A.D. 268.  The walls were about 3 miles (5 km) in circumference and included over 100 towers!