A fast highway connects Istanbul with Izmit, the capital of the Kocaeli province. An important city in Roman times when it was known as Nicomedela, it is now a prosperous industrial center. The lively city of Izmit with its fruit orchards and vegetable gardens is now an industrial centre, and nearby Hereke is famous for its carpets. The Saatci Efendi Konak, a restored typical l8th century Ottoman mansion, now serves as the Ethnography Museum. Pismaniye, the local sweet, consists of thousands of thin layers of stretched sugar.