Kocaeli

Marmara, Turkey 2 tours visit here

Kocaeli is a province and industrial city in the Marmara region of northwestern Turkey, with İzmit as its capital. It lies at the eastern end of the Gulf of İzmit, an arm of the Sea of Marmara, and reaches north to a quieter stretch of Black Sea coast around Kandıra. The city stands on the site of ancient Nicomedia, capital of the kingdom of Bithynia and later an imperial capital of the Roman Empire under Diocletian. Little of that period survives above ground, and most finds are in the local archaeology museum. The compact centre is usually covered on foot: the Kasr-ı Hümayun, an Ottoman imperial pavilion on the slope above the shore, the clock tower and old mosque quarter below it, and the waterfront park along the gulf. Much of the surrounding city is new, rebuilt after the 1999 earthquake centred nearby. Beyond the centre the gulf works hard, lined with refineries, car plants and container terminals and crossed near its mouth by the Osmangazi bridge, while the wooded ridge of Kartepe rises to the south and holds snow in winter. Kocaeli is usually seen as a day trip or a stop on the road east from Istanbul; İzmit is also known nationally for pişmaniye, a fine spun-sugar sweet.