Bursa – The First Ottoman Capital

Located in the shadow of Uludağ Mountain, Old Town Bursa is bursting with history from the early Ottoman years. Since it was the Empire’s first capital, its buildings give a glimpse of what was important to this burgeoning powerhouse.  

For almost 600 years the Ottoman Empire ruled over much of Western Asia, as well as parts of Southeastern Europe, the Arabian Peninsula and Northern Africa. Although they amassed a large empire, their beginnings were much humbler. The Ottoman didn’t come into this empire as power hungry conquerors. They began as a collection of nomadic tribes, likely from the steepes of Mongolia. In the late 10th or early 11th centuries they were forced out by the Mongols and moved into what is present day Turkey. The Ottoman tribes weren’t the only ones. There were other, similar tribes who began to spread across Asia Minor at the same time. By the 11th century one of these tribes, the Seljuks, had settled down and established a small kingship in Eastern Turkey, Iran and Mesopotamia. (Read our post about the Seljuks here.)

Unlike the Seljuks, the group that would become the Ottoman Empire didn’t settle down at first. Instead, they followed the ghazi tradition of travelling and spreading the word of Islam. At the same time they raided towns and villages that were in their path and began to acquire wealth. They were known to be fierce warriors and many were afraid of them. One legend says that in order to protect his own land, the Seljuk king suggested that the Ottoman warriors fight the Byzantines instead of his Muslim settlement. Whether that’s true or not, the Ottoman soon began to put their efforts toward Byzantine held villages and towns. This marked the beginning of their empire building.

Eventually, under the leadership of Osman Bey (also called Osman Ghazi and Osman I) in the 13th century, they established a small settlement in Antolia, just west of the city of Bursa. The name Ottoman is derived from Osman Bey and he is considered the founder of the Ottoman Empire. This new empire began to use their skills as warriors to conquer neighbouring lands. In the early 14th century they captured Bursa and made it their first capital city. The more land they amassed, the more they wanted. By the 15th and 16th  centuries they were one of the largest empires in the world.  

As the first Ottoman capital, Bursa today has a historic centre filled with early Ottoman mosques, madrasas, mausoleums as well as unique homes and public baths. Our exploration of Bursa’s Old Town was our first step in understanding the history and architecture of this amazing land.

Orhan Mosque
Orhan Mosque
Muradiye Hüdavendigâr Complex
Muradiye Hüdavendigâr Complex

Most of the Ottoman mosques in Bursa are built inside larger complexes called külliye. They include a mosque as well as a combination of tombs, madrasas (also called tekkes), public baths and caravansary called han. The buildings were usually built using a mix of brick and stone. This design may have been influenced by the Byzantines, but their look is uniquely Ottoman.

Ulu Camii Fountain
Ulu Camii Fountain

Ulu Camii

The most prominent mosque in Old Town is Ulu Camii (Grand Mosque). Its bare stone walls may not look that interesting from the outside, but the interior is another story. Built in 1399, the marble entrance leads to a grand room with tall, stone walls painted white and decorated in calligraphy. The ceiling has many domes, each with tall pillars reaching up to meet them. Near the entrance is an elegant marble ablution fountain. 

Ulu Camii
Ulu Camii
Ulu Camii
Ulu Camii
Ulu Camii
Ulu Camii

The qibla wall is adorned with a decadent golden mihrab. A qibla wall indicates the direction of Mecca and mihrabs are niches in this wall. Mihrabs are often the most elaborate feature in a mosque. Prayers had just ended when we arrived and worshippers were still in prayer in front of the mihrab.

Ulu Camii
Ulu Camii

Grand Bazaar

The area around Ulu Camii consists of a few different interconnected külliyes. Most of these buildings are now used as markets and together they form Grand Bazaar. We walked from one old caravansaries into a madrasa that led to another caravansary and another madrasa. 

Koza Han
Koza Han
Grand Bazaar
Grand Bazaar
Grand Bazaar
Grand Bazaar

There are long rows of stalls on the streets, small shops in the buildings and restaurants in the open courtyards. Navigating our way around the maze of lanes, hallways, stairs and small nooks that made up the bazaar was a challenge even for those with good navigational skills. We wandered through it and often didn’t know which one we were in at any one point. It could also be that we were frequently distracted by the fabulous buzz in the busy market.

Koza Han
Koza Han
Central Bazaar
Central Bazaar
Grand Bazaar
Grand Bazaar
Grand Bazaar
Grand Bazaar
İvaz Paşa Mosque
İvaz Paşa Mosque

One of our favourite sightings in Turkey was the tea service that took place on the sidewalks and in markets. Waiters with elegant silver tea sets delivered tea to shop owners as well as patrons in cafes or even sitting on park benches. 

Tea delivery, Grand Bazaar
Tea delivery, Grand Bazaar
Tea delivery, Grand Bazaar
Tea delivery, Grand Bazaar

Bursa Town Hall

Not far away from the Central Bazaar is a more recent Ottoman building, but no less fabulous than the older ones. The timber and brick Town Hall was built in 1880 and is the oldest town hall building in Turkey. Its style is a mix of traditional Ottoman architecture and the newer styles of the 19th century. It has the large eaves of Ottoman buildings and the brick designs and overall shape of what was more current at the time.

Bursa Town Hall
Bursa Town Hall

Irganda Bridge

A few blocks further away from Ulu Camii Complex is a lovely 15th century bridge. Irganda Bridge is one of only 4 bridges in the world that has a market incorporated into its design. This one has a few shops selling crafts under the covered roof. We had read that there were many handicraft stores in the market, but only be a few seemed to be still in business. It’s a cute structure so it is too bad that the market is not used much lately.

Irganda Bridge
Irganda Bridge

The bridge and another one nearby cross over a small creek. Between these two old bridges is a small park. It has a very peaceful setting which is very nice in the middle of the large city.

Irganda Bridge
Irganda Bridge
Irganda Bridge
Irganda Bridge

Yeşil Complex

Another important külliye in Old Town is Yeşil Complex. The main building in this complex is Yeşil Camii (Green Mosque). Built in 1420, it’s quite pretty inside. Blue tiles wrap around the base of the walls in the entrance and prayer room. On the far side is the qibla indicating the direction of Mecca. It is adorned with bright teal coloured tiles in elaborate patterns. Some of the domed ceilings and the original minaret are decorated with green tiles which is how the mosque received its name.

Yeşil Mosque
Yeşil Mosque
Yeşil Mosque
Yeşil Mosque
Yeşil Mosque
Yeşil Mosque

Across from the mosque is the Green Tomb (Yeşil Turbe).  Its light-blue tiled exterior walls make it much prettier than most of the other tombs. Inside, the walls are wrapped in tri-coloured blue tiles. On the main wall is an an elaborately tiled mihrab. The mausoleum has nine sarcophagi for Celebi Sultan Mehmed (Mehmed I) as well as his sons and daughters. 

Yeşil Tomb
Yeşil Tomb
Yeşil Tomb
Yeşil Tomb

On the roof of a neighbouring building is a small statue of a whirling dervish sufi in meditation. They have a long history in Bursa having arrived in the city to set up a lodge soon after the Ottoman arrived. They practiced their faith at the lodge until it was banned in the early 20th century. Today a few whirling dervishes perform for tourists at Karabaş-i Veli Culture Center in Bursa. We didn’t see their performance here, but we did in Konya. Click on the link to our post from Konya, The Whirling Dervishes in Konya.

Yeşil Complex
Yeşil Complex

Muradiye Complex

The early Ottoman Empire did not recognize primogeniture; the entitlement of the first-born to inherit the throne. Any of the sultan’s sons, or nephews if he had no sons, could be the next sultan. This resulted in infighting and hatred between brothers. There are several examples in history of young men, or even their supporters, killing their brothers or male cousins to ensure their succession to the throne. Even if a murder wasn’t planned, there was still a lot of paranoia that it would. Because of this, the tombs in Muradiye are filled with princes who died at the hands of another.

Muradiye Tombs were built between the 15th and 16th centuries. In total there are 12 tombs for 19 people from 6 generations of Ottoman Dynasties in this complex. The first tomb was built for Sultan Murad II. It is considered a dynasty gravesite because originally it was only his family members that were buried here. As time went on, the site was used for the princes of five other sultans. Tombs were typically built for a prince but they were also buried with their family members such as mothers etc.

Muradiye Hüdavendigâr Complex
Muradiye Hüdavendigâr Complex

Some of the tombs are subtle and elegant, others are highly decorated in colourful tiles and artwork. The tombs are named after the prince who is buried under them.

Entryway, Murad II Tomb
Entryway, Murad II Tomb
Mukrime HatinTomb
Mukrime Hatin Tomb
Gulrutu Hatom Tomb
Gulrutu Hatom Tomb
Cem Sultan Tomb
Cem Sultan Tomb

There are many tragic stories tied to these tombs. One of them involves the favoured son of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, Şehzade Mustafa. The sultan listened to rumours that claimed his son was guilty of treason. These rumours enraged the sultan and so he ordered the killing of his favourite son. Soon after Mustafa’s death, Süleyman discovered that the rumours weren’t true. Mustafa hadn’t been a traitor. It is said that the sultan bitterly regretted his actions and had an elaborate tomb erected in Mustafa’s honour.

The interior of Şehzade Mustafa’s mausoleum has some of the best examples of glazed Iznik tiles. This tile glazing technique of applying layers of flowery designs on quartzite tiles was perfected by the Ottoman tile makers in the 16th century. You can see these tiles on the bottom half of the tomb walls.

Sehzade Mustafa Tomb
Sehzade Mustafa Tomb

In the same complex is Muradiye Mosque. Compared to the tombs, it has a rather unassuming interior except for an elaborate golden mehrab and blue tiled wall around the base of the main prayer area.

Muradiye Mosque
Muradiye Mosque

The complex used to include a medieval health centre, a bath house, a few houses and a soup kitchen. The buildings today are still being used for a modern health clinic, museum and restaurant.

City Wall

Before the Ottomans moved into Bursa it was under the realm of the Bythinians, Romans, Byzantines and others. There are a few reminders of these previous inhabitants, and the most obvious is a part of the City Wall. It is believed that a wall was originally built around the city in the 2nd century BCE. The wall we see today is the result of many modifications and rebuilds over success empires.

Walking up the hill from Ulu Camii is where you’ll find the most complete section of the old city wall and the most important gate. Sultanat Kapisi (Palace Gate) was considered the noblest of gates because it led to Bey Sary Palace on top of the hill. The gate has many other names too which added to our confusion in trying to find where it was located. It was also known as Hisar Kapısı (Castle Gate), Kale Kapisi (Fortress Gate) as well as Balikpazari Kapısı (Fish Gate) because it was close to the fish market and Darpane Kapısı (Mint Gate) due to its proximity to the Mint. 

City Wall
City Wall
Sultanat Kapisi
Sultanat Kapisi
City Wall
City Wall

Tophane Park

Once you go through Sultanat Gate, you arrive at Tophane Park. This small park gives great views of Old Town Bursa below. In addition to an old clock tower, there are a few historic Ottoman homes in the park that are now restaurants.

Bursa from Tophane Park
Bursa from Tophane Park
Tophane Clock Tower
Tophane Clock Tower
Ulu Camii from Tophane Park
Tophane Park
Tophane Park

Osman Gazi Turbesi

The tomb for the founder of the Ottoman Empire lies at the entrance to Tophane Park. Inside the tomb are several sarcophagi covered in bright cloth. Around the perimeter, the many window sills are painted in pretty designs. In addition to the one for the sultan, the other sarcophagi are for his sons and grandsons and great grandsons.

Because of his importance to the history of Turkey, the tomb is a pilgrimage site.

Sultan Osman Tomb
Sultan Osman Tomb

Ottoman Houses 

As soon as the Ottoman Empire conquered Byzantine held land, they moved into the cities and towns. The Byzantine leaders fled, but the local villagers remained. Therefore, many Byzantine-trained tradesmen and artisans were already located in cities such as Bursa. Because of this, new buildings including homes, have Byzantine influence, but were given a new, distinctively Ottoman style. We saw several examples of these historic homes throughout Old Town, but the best examples were near Tophane Park and Yeşil Complex.

Ottoman houses
Ottoman houses

The first level of the two or three-story homes are usually made from stone and have large wooden doors and windows. An overhanging top floor has angled wooden support beams and far reaching eaves that give them a unique look. In Bursa these homes were usually covered in plaster and painted in bright colours. These homes are now a treasured part of Turkey’s history.

Ottoman houses
Ottoman houses
Ottoman houses
Ottoman houses
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To read more of our stories from Turkey, click here.

Coming Next – Cumalıkızık – Historic Ottoman Village

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To read about more of our adventures go to Destinations.

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