1st edition, 2025. The area west of Istanbul, around the Sea of Marmara, is where the Ottomans began their rise to power. This guide to its historic cultures and civilisations includes: the Sea of Marmara itself, with its famous marble quarries; the old Ottoman capitals of Bursa and Edirne; Iznik (the ancient Nicaea) and Kütayha, both famed for their ceramics; Izmit (ancient Nicomedia) and Gallipoli, the scene of savage fighting in the First World War.