Bursa was the Ottoman capital from 1326 to 1365, and the empire's first six sultans are buried within its city limits. Here you walk through the tombs, mosques and külliyes where the Ottoman state was invented — before Istanbul existed as a Turkish city.
The founder of the dynasty and his son lie in converted Byzantine chapels on the Tophane citadel terrace. The 1855 earthquake destroyed the originals; Sultan Abdülaziz rebuilt them in 1863. Open 08:30–17:00 daily, free entry, mosque dress code applies.
The oldest surviving Ottoman mosque in Bursa and the prototype for the entire zaviye-style plan: an inverted-T layout with side rooms for wandering dervishes. Built 1339 by Orhan Gazi, restored after Karamanid arson in 1417. Free entry, closed at prayer times.
Bursa's Byzantine acropolis, captured by Orhan Gazi in 1326 after a nine-year siege. The surviving Hellenistic-era foundations, Roman rebuilds and Ottoman repairs stack visibly in one wall face. Free, open around the clock, best light late afternoon.
Finds from Bithynian Prusa, the city Prusias I founded around 202 BC with advice from Hannibal, plus Roman and Byzantine material from the Nilüfer plain. Open 08:00–17:00, closed Mondays. Entry 60 TL, Müzekart valid.
Mehmed I's 1419 complex, the high point of early Ottoman art: a carved white marble portal, hexagonal turquoise-tiled mausoleum, and cuerda seca tilework by the 'Masters of Tabriz'. Mosque free, tomb free. Open 08:30–19:00, closed briefly at prayer.
Mehmed I's 1419 theological college, now holding Ottoman calligraphy, Karagöz shadow puppets, Ottoman glass and Bursa silk looms. Same courtyard as the Green Mosque. Entry 60 TL, open 08:30–17:30, closed Mondays.
The külliye of Bayezid I, who won at Nicopolis in 1396 and died a Timurid captive after Ankara in 1402. His tomb, built by his son Süleyman Çelebi, sits on the hill above the mosque with the earliest pointed-arch Ottoman façade.
Murad II's 1426 mosque with twelve mausolea of executed princes, exiled şehzades and sultanas — including Cem Sultan and Prince Mustafa, strangled on Süleyman's order in 1553. The densest concentration of Ottoman dynastic tragedy anywhere.
A 700-year-old vakıf village founded by Osman Gazi's warriors, UNESCO-listed with Bursa in 2014. Around 270 original houses in mud-brick and timber line cobbled lanes. Bus 22 from Kent Meydanı, 12 km east. Entry free, some house-museums 30 TL.
The 1867 original: İskender Efendi's fourth-generation descendants still serve döner over torn pide with tomato sauce, browned butter poured at the table, and yogurt. Portion around 450 TL. Open 11:00–21:00, no reservations.
Bayezid II's 1491 two-storey han with a raised courtyard mescit over an ablution fountain. The silkworm-cocoon auction still runs here each June and September, the last live koza market in Turkey. Free to enter, shops open 09:00–19:00.
Byzantine baths of Justinian I rebuilt by Murad I in 1389 on Roman Prusa's thermal springs — one of the oldest continuously used hamams on earth. Roman columns still stand in the hot room. Around 600 TL bath and scrub.