İznik's museum is housed in a soup kitchen that Sultan Murat I built for his mother, Nilüfer Hatun, in 1388. Born a Byzantine princess, Nilüfer was given to Sultan Orhan to cement a diplomatic alliance. The museum has been shut for restoration for a few years, though on our last visit we were assured it should be open again by 2020. Come here to see its lofty halls displaying original İznik tiles of milky bluish-white and rich 'İznik red' hues.
Other exhibits include 8000-year-old finds from a nearby tumulus (burial mound) at Ilıpınar, indicating links with Neolithic Balkan culture.