Bursa in 3 days

Muradiye Complex — Ottoman founding sultans' tombs (the most important royal necropolis in Turkey: the garden complex built by Sultan Murad II (1421–1451) containing 12 mausoleums): the tombs of 9 Ottoman sultans and princes including: Sultan Murad II (d. 1451 — the father of Mehmed II "the Conqueror": the sultan who voluntarily abdicated twice to pursue the contemplative Sufi life (the most unusual act in Ottoman dynastic history) before dying in Edirne), Sultan Şehzade Ahmet and Şehzade Mahmut (the sons of Bayezid II, strangled on their brother Selim's orders in 1513 — the most brutal fratricidal act in early Ottoman history), and Şehzade Cem (1459–1495: the most tragic figure in Ottoman history — the prince who contested the throne with his brother Bayezid II in 1481, fled to the Knights of St. John in Rhodes, was passed from the Knights to the Pope, and spent 13 years as a refugee-hostage at the French and Papal courts before dying in Naples in 1495 (possibly poisoned on Bayezid's orders — the most discussed assassination in Ottoman history)).

Cumalıkızık village (the best-preserved Ottoman village in Turkey — UNESCO World Heritage 2014): the 700-year-old village of 270 half-timbered Fachwerk houses (the most important surviving example of early Ottoman domestic architecture in Anatolia (the traditional Ottoman village house: the "yığma" — the mud-brick and timber-frame construction with the characteristic overhanging upper story (the "cumba" — the projecting bay window that is the most distinctive element of Ottoman domestic architecture: the overhanging upper story creates a shaded walkway at street level below — the most functional architectural element in the hot Anatolian summer))). Located 8km east of Bursa at the foot of Uludağ (the "Great Mountain" — the Bithynian Olympus (the ancient Greek name for the mountain: Olympos Mysios (the Mysian Olympus)) reaching 2,543m). The most important experience in Cumalıkızık: the "köy kahvaltısı" (the village breakfast — the most important meal in Turkish rural culture): menemen (the scrambled egg with tomato and green pepper), tahini (the sesame paste) with grape molasses ("pekmez"), village butter, homemade olive oil, white cheese ("beyaz peynir"), tomatoes, cucumbers and village bread ("köy ekmeği") baked in the wood-fired oven.

Çekirge thermal baths (the most important hamam culture in Turkey — Bursa's thermal springs (the "kaplıca") have been the most important healing waters in Bithynia since the Roman period): the "Pythia Therma" (the ancient Greek name for the Bursa thermal waters — the most important thermal springs in ancient Bithynia (the northwest Anatolian kingdom that was the most powerful state in the region between the Macedonian and Roman conquests)): the springs (the water temperature: 47–78°C — the most varied thermal spring temperatures of any single thermal area in Turkey: the hottest spring (78°C) is used for the "kesmere" bath (the most extreme thermal bathing experience in Bursa — immersion in the hottest pool for the shortest possible time to stimulate the circulation)). The Eski Kaplıca (the "Old Spa" — built by Sultan Orhan I (the second Ottoman sultan, r. 1323–1362) on the site of a Byzantine thermal bath): the most ancient and the most historically important thermal bath in Turkey — the pool of the Eski Kaplıca has been in continuous use since the 4th century CE (the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (527–565 CE) reportedly bathed here (the most important imperial visitor to the Bursa thermal springs in the Byzantine period)).

Bursa evening in the Tophane district (the clifftop park above the old city containing the tombs of the Ottoman dynasty founders): the tombs of Osman Gazi (the founder of the Ottoman dynasty — died c. 1323: his tomb is in the former Byzantine church of St. Elias converted into a mausoleum: the most important single tomb in Ottoman history (the tomb of the man from whom the Ottoman Empire takes its name — "Ottoman" is the Western corruption of "Osmanlı" — "of Osman")): and Orhan Gazi (the second Ottoman sultan — died 1362: the sultan who captured Bursa in 1326 and made it the first Ottoman capital). The sunset view from the Tophane gardens (the most important city panorama in Bursa — the view over the entire modern city to the Bithynian plain and the distant mountains). İnegöl köfte dinner: the meatball of the town of İnegöl (45km east of Bursa: the town that gave Turkey its most important regional meatball — the İnegöl köfte: the coarsely ground beef + onion + spice meatball grilled over charcoal and served with white beans ("piyaz") and pickles).

Bursa traditional breakfast (the most important morning meal in the Bursa tradition): the Bursa kaymak (the clotted cream from the milk of the water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis — the domestic water buffalo (the "manda" in Turkish): the most important dairy animal in the Bursa region: the water buffalo's milk contains 2–3 times more fat than cow's milk (the water buffalo milk fat content: 7–8% versus the cow's milk fat content of 3.5–4%): the high fat content of the water buffalo milk makes the most extraordinary kaymak (the clotted cream created by slowly heating the milk almost to boiling and then allowing it to cool slowly with the fat rising to form the thick "kaymak" cream layer): the Bursa kaymak is designated a Geographical Indication (GI) product by the EU (the most important Turkish food GI registration after the Antep baklava and the Aydın incir (the Aydın fig))). The petek bal (honeycomb honey — the honey from the honeycomb (the "petek" — the hexagonal wax cells built by the honeybees to store honey): the most luxurious form of honey consumption (the honey eaten directly from the wax comb by breaking off pieces and chewing the wax to extract the honey: the most traditional and the most flavorful way to eat honey in Turkish culture)).

Uludağ cable car (teleferik — the most dramatic cable car journey in Turkey): the two-stage gondola system from the Teferrüç station in the Bursa city center (altitude 200m) to the Kadıyayla terminal (altitude 1,870m): Stage 1 (Teferrüç to Sarıalan — altitude 1,635m): 15 minutes, rising through the suburban forest of Bursa, crossing the first ridge of Uludağ. Stage 2 (Sarıalan to Kadıyayla — altitude 1,870m): 8 minutes, crossing the most spectacular section of the cable car over the deep forested ravines of the Uludağ National Park. The views: the entire Bithynian plain spread below (the most important agricultural plain in northwestern Turkey), the Sea of Marmara (the inland sea between European and Asian Turkey — visible from the summit as a silver strip on the horizon), and (on the clearest days) the outline of Istanbul 150km to the northwest (the most important distant city view in Turkey). The Uludağ National Park (established 1961 — the most important national park in northwestern Turkey: 11,338 hectares of beech-fir-pine forest, alpine meadows and glacial lakes).

Koza Han silk bazaar (the Silk Cocoon Caravanserai, built 1491 by Bayezid II — the center of Bursa's silk trade for 530 years): the most important textile shopping in Turkey outside Istanbul. The Bursa ipeklisi (the Bursa silk — the most important GI textile in Turkey: the "Bursa ipeklisi" is the traditional Bursa silk fabric woven from the silk of the Bursa silkworms (the silkworms raised on the mulberry leaves of the Bursa plain: the most important mulberry tree region in Turkey — the Bursa Marmara coast has the most favorable climate for white mulberry (Morus alba) cultivation in all of Turkey)). The bursa havlusu (the Bursa towel — the most important contribution of Bursa to global textile culture: the "Turkish towel" ("peştemal" or "hamam towel") tradition that has made "Turkish towel" a global category in the towel market was originated in Bursa (the peştemal (the thin, flat-woven cotton towel that dries fast and becomes softer with each wash) was first produced in the Bursa hamam culture of the Ottoman period)). The silk prayer rugs (the most important luxury textile in the Islamic tradition — hand-woven in Bursa from the pure mulberry silk).

Farewell Bursa (the Tophane gardens at sunset): the tomb of Osman Gazi (the founder of the Ottoman dynasty — the most important dynastic founder's tomb in Turkish history: the man from whom 623 years of Ottoman imperial rule descends (1299–1922): Osman I (c. 1258–c. 1323), the chieftain of a small Turkic principality (the "beylik") in the Bithynian frontier zone of the declining Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, who gradually extended his territory at the expense of the Byzantine Empire and founded the dynasty that would eventually rule from Vienna to the Persian Gulf). The çay bahçesi (the tea garden in the Tophane park — the most atmospheric outdoor tea experience in Bursa: the Turkish çay (the "rize çayı" — the black tea from the Rize province of northeastern Turkey on the Black Sea coast: the most widely consumed beverage in Turkey (the Turks drink approximately 3.5 kg of tea per person per year — the highest per-capita tea consumption in the world after the Turkmens)). The kestane şekeri (the Bursa candied chestnut — the most important confection in Bursa: the fresh chestnuts from the Uludağ beech-chestnut forests glazed in pure sugar syrup and individually wrapped in gold foil: the most important sweet souvenir from Bursa sold in every confectionery shop in the Bursa bazaar).