Bursa

Bursa is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of Turkey’s automotive production takes place in Bursa.Bursa was the first major and second overall capital of the Ottoman State between 1335 and 1363. The city was referred to as Hudavendigar during the Ottoman period, while a more recent nickname is Yesil Bursa (“Green Bursa”) in reference to the parks and gardens located across its urban fabric, as well as to the vast and richly varied forests of the surrounding region. Mount Uludag, the ancient Mysian Olympus, towers over it, and has a well-known ski resort. Bursa has rather orderly urban growth and borders a fertile plain. The mausoleums of the early Ottoman sultans are located in Bursa, and the city’s main landmarks include numerous edifices built throughout the Ottoman period. Bursa also has thermal baths, old Ottoman mansions, palaces, and several museums.

Bursa is a city of brightly coloured houses and winding streets dotted with fountains. It retains its Ottoman flavour and contains some of the outstanding examples of Ottoman architecture. Among its mosques, Ulu Mosque (1421) is a vast building with 20 domes, noted for the variety and fineness of its calligraphic ornamentation. Yeşil Mosque (1421) marked the beginning of a purely Turkish style; it includes a theological college, library, and ablution fountain. Nearby is the Yeşil Mausoleum, containing the tomb of Sultan Mehmed I. The Muradiye Mosque (15th century) is surrounded by the tombs of sultans and their families. On a terrace overlooking the city are the tombs of Osman I, founder of the Ottoman dynasty, and his son Orhan (Orkhan). A 15th-century theological school houses the city’s archaeological museum. Bursa’s several baths, fed by thermal springs famous in Roman times, include medieval structures that incorporated material from Justinian’s imperial baths from the 6th century.