Places to Visit in Bursa
Nihan Uğurlu · Keyfi Yazılarım ·
Travel memories from 2015. Hours and prices may change; check official links before visiting.
Personal travel notes, discoveries along the way and photographs from the original story.
Travel notes
Bursa
A view of Bursa from Uludağ
The first Ottoman capital was traditionally called ‘Green Bursa’. It is an economically important city, a major industrial centre and a place rich in natural and historic attractions. I am not sure how much of that famous greenery remains, but history still seems to be everywhere. My original notes described it as Turkey’s fourth-largest city. When I think of Bursa, I think of history, shopping centres, textiles and industry, İskender kebab, Uludağ, the Grand Mosque, chestnuts and peaches.
Zafer Plaza
Uludağ, the highest mountain in northwestern Turkey, has long been a favourite for winter and outdoor sports. A cable car runs up from Bursa’s elevated Teferrüç neighbourhood. At the mountain’s foot, Cumalıkızık is a very special village; if you are nearby, I would definitely make time for it.
Uludağ
We went straight to the magnificent Grand Mosque, Ulu Cami. It is an imposing, beautiful building, commissioned by Bayezid I and built between 1396 and 1400. Standing there, I kept wondering how builders centuries ago created something so grand and enduring. Their achievement still amazes me.
The Grand Mosque
After the mosque, we explored Bursa’s historic Aynalı Çarşı, another special place. Hunger then led us to Kebapçı İskender, associated with the origins of the city’s famous kebab. Getting a table was not immediate—we waited outside for twenty minutes! 🙂 Was it worth it? Yes. It was delicious and distinctive, and I loved how the old shop had kept its traditional character.
The story I heard begins in 1867 at İskender Efendi’s family shop in Kayhan, Bursa. Lamb was then commonly cooked whole on a horizontal spit over charcoal. İskender wanted customers to enjoy an even mixture of the flavours from different cuts, so he combined his family’s meat-cooking skills with a new approach: removing bones and sinews, stacking slices on a vertical spit and turning it in front of a charcoal fire. Lamb and sheep raised on Uludağ’s grasses and thyme contributed to the flavour. Served with pide, butter, sauce, yoghurt, tomato and green pepper, and traditionally accompanied by şıra, a grape drink, the dish became famous as İskender döner kebab. That is the account behind the meal! Bursa also has cantık, a small, thick-based pide that is genuinely delicious. Naturally, we found time to try that too. 🙂
Cantık