East Gate Spolia

East Gate Spolia

A detailed view of some of the spolia that was embedded into the at the outer most gate—of three—on the east side of Nicea (Iznik).  In Turkish, this is called the Lefke Kapi.

It is not clear where these reliefs are from—maybe part of an ancient sarcophagus(?).   On the right appear to be soldiers with shields and short swords.  All of this is called "spolia."


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!