Bursa

Spreading across a green, spring-watered terrace at the northern foot of 2,543-metre Mount Uludağ (the Mysian Olympus of antiquity), Bursa became the first major capital of the Ottoman Empire after Orhan Gazi captured the Byzantine city of Prusa in 1326. Known across Turkey as Yeşil Bursa ("Green Bursa"), it is the city where early Ottoman architecture, silk weaving and culinary traditions took shape before the conquest of Constantinople.

In the UNESCO-listed historic commercial core of Hanlar Bölgesi, the twenty domes of Ulu Cami (the Grand Mosque) stand beside the two-storey stone arcades of Koza Han, the 1491 silk cocoon caravanserai that marked the western terminus of the Asian Silk Road. East and west along the mountain slope lie the turquoise tiles of the Green Mosque and Tomb (Yeşil Külliye), the painted tombs of Muradiye, the 700-year-old cobbled alleys of Cumalıkızık, the world's longest continuous gondola lift up Mount Uludağ, and the geothermal domes of Çekirge. Start with our before-you-go briefing and top things to do in Bursa.

Most travellers reach Bursa from Istanbul via two fast routes: the scenic 1-hour-50-minute BUDO sea-bus ferry from Istanbul Sirkeci (Eminönü) to Bursa's coastal port of Mudanya (connected to the BursaRay metro by Express Bus F3/1M), or direct intercity coaches and cars crossing the Osmangazi suspension bridge in two hours. Inside the city, two BursaRay metro lines and historic trams link the terminal, Çekirge, the Bazaar and Cumalıkızık. See getting to Bursa and how Bursa public transport works.

If your focus is walking the UNESCO silk inns, mosques and historic kebab restaurants, stay in central Osmangazi around Heykel, Tophane or Şehreküstü. If you want a private thermal spring bath in your room or hotel spa, choose the historic hillside district of Çekirge, three kilometres west of the bazaar. Winter skiers book directly in the 1st or 2nd Development Zones on Mount Uludağ. Compare all bases in where to stay in Bursa.

Admire the monumental calligraphy and indoor fountain of Ulu Cami before drinking tea under the plane trees of Koza Han, walk over the 1442 Irgandı Artisan Bridge and visit Osman Gazi's tomb at Tophane, ride the 9-kilometre Bursa Teleferik up Mount Uludağ, eat a village breakfast in Cumalıkızık, and take a day trip to the lake island of Gölyazı or walled Iznik. Full list in things to do in Bursa.

Bursa is one of Turkey's undisputed gastronomic capitals. Here in 1867, İskender Efendi invented the vertical rotating lamb roast served over diced pita bread, tomato sauce and foaming browned sheep's butter (İskender kebap). Pair it with Kayhan Bazaar's pideli köfte, Inegöl meatballs, soft square cantık pies, warm cheese-filled tahinli pide for breakfast, and boxes of candied chestnuts (kestane şekeri). Read more in our Bursa food and culinary guide.

Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2014 under the title "Bursa and Cumalıkızık: the Birthplace of the Ottoman Empire", the city pioneered the külliye urban planning system, anchoring each new neighbourhood around a mosque, madrasa, public soup kitchen, bathhouse and market inn, while remaining famous for 600 years of silk weaving and the shadow-puppet theatre characters Karagöz and Hacivat.