24 August 2002 - Iznik
After seeing all the beautifully-tiled buildings in Istanbul, we went to hunt down their origin.
Iznik is about two hours by car from Izmit.
But it was a manageable journey.
Iznik is a small and very sleepy town.
The original tile factory died many years ago, but we found the Iznik Foundation, which is attempting to revive the old craft.
They fire some basic shapes in clay, with a very high quartz content making them harder.
Then, the pieces are all hand-painted, before being fired again.
After having visited them, my father attempted to learn how to stand on his hands.
My brother showed him how it was really done.
There are some remains of Roman Nicaea.
Surprisingly, they seem to be totally ignored by the locals and the tourism authorities.
