Bursa

City in Bursa province in western Turkey

This article is about the city. For bursas in the human body, see Synovial bursa. For other uses, see Bursa (disambiguation).

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Turkish. (October 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Turkish article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 492 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Turkish Wikipedia article at [[:tr:Bursa]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|tr|Bursa}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

City in Marmara, Turkey

Bursa
City
Clockwise from top: Hüdavendigar Park; Green Mosque; Irgandı Bridge and Orhan Gazi Square; nostalgic tram on Cumhuriyet Avenue; Koza Han; and Bursa – Mt. Uludağ gondola lift
Licence plate		16
Website	www.bursa.bel.tr
Europe

Bursa (Turkish pronunciation:

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. As of 2019, the Metropolitan Province was home to 3,056,120 inhabitants, 2,161,990 of whom lived in the 3 city urban districts (Osmangazi, Yıldırım and Nilüfer) plus Gürsu and Kestel.^[1]

Bursa was the first major and second overall capital of the Ottoman State between 1335 and 1363. The city was referred to as Hüdavendigar (خداوندگار, meaning "God's Gift" in Ottoman Turkish, a name of Persian origin) during the Ottoman period, while a more recent nickname is Yeşil Bursa ("Green Bursa") referring to the parks and gardens located across the city, as well as to the vast, varied forests of the surrounding region.

Bursa has a rather orderly urban growth and borders a fertile plain. The

Bithynian Olympus, towers over the city, and has a well-known ski resort

.

The shadow play characters Karagöz and Hacivat are based on historic personalities who lived and died in Bursa in the 14th century.^[3]

History

See also:

Prousa

The earliest known human settlement near Bursa's current location was at Ilıpınar Höyüğü around 5200 BC.

Ancient Greek: Προῦσα; sometimes rendered as Prussa). After 128 years of Bithynian rule, Nicomedes IV, the last King of Bithynia, bequeathed the entire kingdom to the Roman Empire in 74 BC. An early Roman Treasure was found near Bursa in the early 20th century. Composed of a woman's silver toilet articles, it is now in the British Museum.^[5]

Under Byzantine rule, the town became a garrison city in 562 AD, where imperial guards were stationed there. Already by the mid-6th century, Bursa was known as a famous silk textile manufacturing centre.[6]

Bursa (from the Greek "Prusa") became the first major capital city of the early

Ulu Cami (Grand Mosque) between 1396 and 1400.^[9] After Bayezid was defeated in the Battle of Ankara by the forces of Timur in 1402, the latter's grandson, Muhammad Sultan Mirza, had the city pillaged and burned.^[10] Despite this, Bursa remained as the most important administrative and commercial centre in the empire until Mehmed II conquered Constantinople

in 1453. The population of Bursa was 45,000 in 1487.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1487	45,000	—
1927	61,451	+36.6%
1955	128,875	+109.7%
1980	487,604	+278.4%
2000	1,184,144	+142.8%
2015	1,854,285	+56.6%

[11]

During the Ottoman period, Bursa continued to be the source of most royal

silk trade and economic history is the work of Ottomanist Halil İnalcık.^[15]

In July 1915, thousands of Greek Orthodox Christians sought refuge in Bursa after having been forced out of their coastal villages by orders of the

Armenian Genocide. Subsequently, large numbers of Kurds and Circassians, as well as Syrians from the south, were settled in the homes and towns of the deported Christians, radically altering the demographic composition of the town and region.^[16] According to Mustafa Zahit Oner, in the last days of the Greco-Turkish War in 1922, the Greek Army attempted to burn the center of Bursa however they were stopped by the allied commanders and were only able to burn the train station together with Turkish civilians in it.^[17] The Cretan artilleryman Vasilios Moustakis describes the event with the following words: "The Infantry had come through and set fire to the station. We saw an English general on horseback, who ordered the fire to be put out because if Bursa were burned, it would be harming Greece".^[18]

Following the foundation of the

4th most populous city in Turkey

.

The city has traditionally been a pole of attraction, and was a major centre for refugees from various ethnic backgrounds who immigrated to

Ottoman territories in Europe between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The most recent arrival of Balkan Turks took place between the 1940s and 1990s, when the People's Republic of Bulgaria expelled approximately 150,000 Bulgarian Turks to Turkey.^[19] About one-third of these 150,000 Bulgarian Turkish refugees eventually settled in Bursa (especially in the Hürriyet neighbourhood). With the construction of new industrial zones in the period between 1980 and 2000, many people from the eastern provinces of Turkey

came and settled in Bursa.

Geography

Köppen map of Bursa Province and surrounding regions:^[20]

•   

  Csb
•   Cfa
•   Dsb
•   Dsc

Bursa has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa) under the Köppen classification, and a dry-hot summer subtropical climate (Csa) under the Trewartha classification. The city has hot, dry summers that last from June until September. Winters are cool and damp, also containing the most rainfall. There can be snow on the ground which will last for a week or two. Air pollution is a chronic problem in Bursa.^[22]

Economy

Bursa is the largest production centre of the

Apart from its large automotive industry, Bursa also produces a substantial amount of dairy products (by Sütaş),^[27] processed food (by Tat),^[28] and beverages (by Uludağ).^[29]

Traditionally, Bursa was famous for being the largest centre of silk trade in the Byzantine and later the Ottoman empires, during the period of the lucrative Silk Road. The city is still a major centre for textiles in Turkey and is home to the Bursa International Textiles and Trade Centre (Bursa Uluslararası Tekstil ve Ticaret Merkezi, or BUTTIM). Bursa was also known for its fertile soil and agricultural activities, which have decreased in the recent decades due to the heavy industrialization of the city.

Bursa is a major centre for tourism. One of the most popular

Bursa has a metro (Bursaray), trams^[30] and a bus system for inner-city public transport, while taxi cabs are also available. Bursa's Yenişehir Airport is 20 mi (32 km) away from the city centre. The citizens of Bursa also prefer Istanbul's airports such as Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gökçen International Airport for flights to foreign countries, due to Istanbul's proximity to Bursa. There are numerous daily bus and ferry services between the two cities.

The 8.8 km (5.5 mi) long Bursa Uludağ Gondola (Turkish: Teleferik) connects Bursa with the ski resort areas 1,870 m (6,140 ft) high on the mountain Uludağ.^[31]

The only railway station in Bursa is the Harmancık station on the Balıkesir-Kütahya railway, which was opened in 1930.

The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Bursa, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 62 min. 12% of public transit riders ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 18 min, while 31% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip on public transit is 8.1 km (5.0 mi), while 17% travel for over 12 km (7.5 mi) in a single direction.^[32]

Education

Bursa has two public universities and one private university.

The first private university in Bursa was the Bursa Orhangazi University,^[35] which started education in the 2012–2013 academic year. However, Orhangazi University was shut down by the Turkish government after the failed coup attempt of July 2016.

Istanbul Commerce University has opened graduate programs in Bursa in 2013.^[36]

The vocational high schools, Bursa Sports High School,^[37] and Bursa Agriculture Vocational High School,^[38] are located in Osmangazi district.

Sports

The current Mayor of the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mustafa Bozbey is elected from the main opposition party (CHP) in March 2024.

Alinur Aktaş from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) was in office between 2019 and 2024, the AKP coalition won 49.6% of the vote against the CHP coalition which got 47% of the vote.^[39]

Main sights

Ulu Cami (Grand Mosque)

Ordered by Sultan Bayezid I, the mosque was designed and built by architect Ali Neccar in 1396–1400. It is a large and rectangular building, with a total of twenty domes that are arranged in four rows of five, and are supported by 12 columns. Supposedly the twenty domes were built instead of the twenty separate mosques which Sultan Bayezid I had promised for winning the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396. The mosque has two minarets.

Inside the mosque, there are 192 monumental wall inscriptions written by the famous

The horizontally spacious and dimly lit interior is designed to feel peaceful and contemplative. The subdivisions of space formed by multiple domes and pillars create a sense of privacy and even intimacy. This atmosphere contrasts with the later Ottoman mosques (see for example the works of Suleiman the Magnificent's chief architect, Mimar Sinan.) The mosques that were built after the conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul) by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, and influenced by the design of the 6th century Byzantine basilica of Hagia Sophia, had increasingly elevated and large central domes, which create a vertical emphasis that is intended to be more overwhelming; to convey the divine power of Allah, the majesty of the Ottoman Sultan, and the governmental authority of the Ottoman State.

Places of interest

A brief list of the places of interest in and around Bursa is presented below. For a longer list, see the places of interest in Bursa.

Mosques and külliye complexes

• Bursa Grand Mosque and külliye
• Yeşil Mosque
  and külliye
• Bayezid I Mosque and külliye
• Muradiye Mosque and külliye
• Emir Sultan Mosque and külliye
• Orhan Gazi Mosque and külliye
• Hüdavendigar Mosque and külliye
• Koca Sinan Paşa Mosque and külliye
• İshak Paşa Mosque and külliye
• Karacabey Grand Mosque
• Karabaş-i Veli Cultural Centre
• Somuncu Baba Mosque
• Üftade Tekkesi Mosque and complex
• Babasultan
  Mosque and complex

Bazaars and caravanserais

• Yıldırım Bazaar (bedesten)
• Koza Han
• Pirinç Han
• İpek Han

Other historic monuments

• Bursa Castle
• Irgandı Bridge
• İnkaya Sycamore, a massive and impressive 600-year-old tree (Platanus orientalis)

Museums

• Bursa Archaeological Museum
• Bursa Atatürk Museum,^[40]
• Bursa City Museum,^[41]
• Bursa Energy Museum
• Bursa Forestry Museum
• Bursa Karagöz Museum
• Bursa Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art
• Bursa Turkish Architecture Museum
• İznik Museum
• Mudanya Armistice House
• Museum of Ottoman House
• Tofaş Museum of Cars and Anatolian Carriages

Parks and gardens

• Uludağ National Park
• Bursa Zoo and Botanical Garden
• Bursa Hüdavendigar Kent Park

Hot springs and thermal baths

• Keramet hot spring
• Çekirge hot spring
• Armutlu hot spring
• Oylat hot spring
• Gemlik hot spring
• Çelik Palas thermal bath

Beaches

• Armutlu beach
• Kumla beach
• Kurşunlu beach
• Orhangazi beach
• Mudanya beach
• Manastir beach
• Kapakli beach

Jewish community

Bursa, initially home to a small Romaniote Jewish community, underwent a demographic shift with the arrival of Sephardic Jews who were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in the late 15th century. The Sephardic majority quickly absorbed the Romaniotes, leading to a cultural and numerical dominance. Judaeo-Spanish became the daily language, and the community paid its poll tax through the representative, the kahya.^[42]

Throughout the Ottoman period, most Jews resided in Kuruçeşme, Bursa's Jewish quarter, home to three synagogues. Etz Chaim (Eṣ Ḥayyim), the oldest, predated Ottoman conquest, while the Gerush and Mayor synagogues were established by Sephardic newcomers. Despite the 1851 fire destroying Etz Chaim, the other two remain, along with the Berut synagogue. Bursa also had a Jewish cemetery until recently.^[42]

Though never a major center, Bursa's Jewish population fluctuated. Dubious data suggests 683 families in 1571/72, dropping to 141 by 1696/97. By 1883, there were 2,179 Jews, with an influx of 400 from Akkerman in 1887. Pre-World War I, the population reached 3,500, but emigration reduced it to 140 by the early 21st century.^[42]

Engaged in the local economy, Bursa's Jews were shop owners and involved in guilds. In the 16th and 17th centuries, they excelled in textile manufacturing, silk trade, goldsmithing, and finance. Despite economic struggles in the 18th and 19th centuries, a 1886 report highlighted poverty.^[42]

Bursa faced blood libels in 1592 and 1865. Despite its size, the community produced renowned halakhic scholars across centuries. Modern schooling arrived in 1886 with Alliance Israélite Universelle, but it closed in 1923 during the secularization program. Jewish children then attended Turkish schools for a modern education.^[42]

Gallery

• 
  Bursa Citadel Main Gate
• 
  Orhan Gazi

  Mosque
• 
  Emir Sultan Mosque
• 
  Koza Han (Silk Bazaar) in Bursa
• 
  Entrance of the

  Yeşil Cami

  (Green Mosque)
• 
  Muradiye Mosque and Külliye in Bursa
• 
  Governorate of Bursa
• 
  Mt. Uludağ is a popular ski destination.
• 
  Statue of Atatürk in Bursa
• 
  Şehreküstü Mosque
• 
  Interior of Yeşil Mosque
• 
  Bursa French Catholic Church
• 
  Saltanatkapı (Citadel Main Gate)
• 
  Old City Hall
• 
  Tophane Clocktower
• 
  Tomb of

  Osman Gazi
• 
  Tomb of

  Orhan Gazi
• 
  Interior of the Grand Mosque
• 
  Koza Han (Silk Bazaar)
• 
  Irgandı Bridge
• 
  A view of Bursa in the late 19th century
• 
  Bursa, circa 1895
• 
  Atatürk delivering a speech in Bursa, 1924
• 
  A view of Bursa from the foothills of Mt. Uludağ

Twin towns – sister cities

Bursa is twinned with:^[43]

See also

• 1855 Bursa earthquake
• Complex of Mehmed I
• Emirsultan Mosque
• Grand Mosque of Bursa
• Green Tomb and Mosque
• List of people from Bursa
• List of World Heritage Sites in Turkey
• Siege of Bursa

References

Further reading

See also: Bibliography of the history of Bursa

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bursa.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Bursa.

• Bursa Metropolitan Municipality
• Bursa Governorship