Bursa city, “the first capital of the Ottoman Empire” or “Green Bursa”
Bursa city in Turkey has owns titles such as “the first capital of the Ottoman Empire” or “Green Bursa”… Still there is much more one can add to help you imagine about all beauties of this magnificent city.
You probably already know about Bursa and the SILK. When you are in KOZAHAN, built in 1451 and later transformed into a tea house, you will certainly picture “silk fabric, clothes and all” with its shops. On the other hand talking about BURSA how can we fail to recall ISKENDER KEBAP, a world-wide known Turkish meat dish, today. You will not have to wait long before a native tells you about the story of “Iskender Kebap” with of slices of lamb meat spread over pieces of pide with tomato sauce and yogurt on top.
Then again Bursa is known to have best peaches in the country not to forget “chestnut sweets”, made up of chestnuts boiled in vanilla sugar syrup.
Even though it is quite small compared to the 4 thousand shops of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, you can find everything listed above in Bursa’s lovely Grand Bazaar. Of course, the most important product in many shops is silk. The old “Mirror Bazaar”, which was originally built as a bath but later turned into a bazaar suitable for Middle Eastern culture, is also quite special. There are traditional Turkish baths all over the city and they all await your visit to give you an experience that you will not forget throughout your life.
Talking about history in this town, mosques mostly built in the Ottoman style are the prominent features you can see here.
If we should talk about old bridges for instance, the Irgandi Bridge, built in 1442, would certainly be worth seeing. The building, which is one of the strongest examples of Ottoman architecture, is now home to shops, workshops and cafes of course.
You might also want to go out of the city and discover wonderful nature. Uludağ, also known as Olympos Mountain, is located on an ancient city and the highest peak in the north-west of Turkey. The only way to reach the resort hotels that are more active during the winter season is to ride the cableway from TEFERRÜC. On this occasion you are surely to experience a beautiful nature and clean air at the top.
Anyway there is certainly much more to see and discover – and enjoy – on a visit to this unique town.
