[mod. ], an ancient town at the head of theGulf of Astacus, which opens on the Propontis, was built in 264 B.C. by Nicomedes I. of Bithynia, and has ever since been oneof the chief towns in this part of Asia Minor. It was the metropolis of Bithynia under the Roman empire (see Nicaea), and Diocletian made it the chief city of the East. Owing to its position at the convergence of the Asiatic roads to the new capital, Nicomedia retained its importance even after the foundation of Constantinople and its own capture by the Turks (1338).
See C. Texier, Asie mineure (Paris, 1839); V. Cuenet, Turquie d'Asie (Paris, 1894).