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BURSA, TURKEY
Coordinates: 40°20′N 29°08′E
Bursa (formerly known as Brusa, Greek: Prusa, Προύσσα) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of Bursa Province. With a population of 1,194,687 (2000 census), it is Turkey's fourth largest city. The city is famous for its ski resorts (on the mountain of Uludağ), the mausoleums of Ottoman sultans, and the surrounding fertile plain. It is also the home of some famous Turkish foods, especially chestnut desserts and a meat dish called İskender kebap.
History
The earliest known site at this location was Cius, which Philip V of Macedonia granted to the Bithynian king Prusias I in 202 BC, for his help against Pergamum and Heraclea Pontica (modern Karadeniz Ereğli). Prusias renamed the city for himself, Prusa.
It was later a major city, located on the westernmost end of the famous Silk Road, and was the capital of the Ottoman Empire following its capture from the Byzantines in 1326 until the capture of Edirne in 1365 and remained an important administrative and commercial center even after it lost its status as the capital. The Algerian resistance fighter Emir Abd el-Kader resided here for a while (1852 to 1855), as well as Ayatollah Khomeini in his first year of exile (1963) before leaving for Nejef in Iraq and later for Paris, and Ismail Hakkı Bursevi a famous Islamic scholar and Sufi is buried here.
Economy
Bursa is the center of the Turkish automobile industry, where FIAT and Renault have located their factories, as well as textile and food industries where Coca Cola, Pepsi and many canned food factories are present in the city's organized industrial zones. Traditionally Bursa was famous with its fertile soil and agricultural activities, which are decreasing due to the heavy industrialization of the city. Bursa also is a major tourist attraction and one of the best ski resorts of Turkey is located at Uludağ in Bursa, as well as the ancient Nicea where the four bibles were united.
Places of interest
Following is a brief list of places of interest in and around Bursa. For a longer list see Places of interest in Bursa.
- Ayasofya, Koimesis and Hagios churches
Ulu Camii (The Great Mosque)
Ulu Camii is the major mosque of Bursa and a landmark of early Ottoman architecture. It was built by Ali Neccar in 1396-1399, at Sultan Bayezid I's command. The mosque is large and rectangular, with twenty domes arranged in four rows of five supported by twelve columns. It has two minarets. Inside the mosque there are 192 monumental wall inscriptions written by famous calligraphers. There is also a fountain (şadırvan) inside the mosque where worshippers can perform ritual ablutions before prayer; the dome over the şadırvan is capped by a skylight, creating a soft, serene light below.
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 later Ottoman mosques (see for example the work of Süleyman I's chief architect Sinan). These later mosques have increasingly elevated central domes, which create a vertical emphasis that is intended to be more overwhelming, in order to convey the power and majesty of the Ottoman Empire.
Sister cities
Bursa has twenty sister cities. Vinnitsa is the latest to become a sister city of Bursa.[1] The date each relationship was formed is shown in parentheses below.
 Darmstadt, Germany (7 July 1971) Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (30 June 1972) Multan, Pakistan (24 February 1975) Oulu, Finland (7 July 1979) Tiffin, Ohio, United States (May 1983) Kairouan, Tunisia (26 December 1987) Denizli, Turkey (4 February 1988) Lefkosia, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (17 December 1990) Anshan, People's Republic of China (8 November 1991) Bitola, Macedonia (3 November 1996)
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 Herzliya, Israel (15 August 1997) Ceadîr-Lunga, Gagauzia, Moldova (23 September 1997) Qyzylorda, Kazakhstan (4 October 1997) Muaskar, Algeria (25 May 1998)- Kulmbach, Germany (29 October 1998)
 Pleven, Bulgaria (30 October 1998)- Plovdiv, Bulgaria (3 December 1998)
 Tirana, Albania (15 December 1998) Košice, Slovakia (29 March 2000) Vinnitsa, Ukraine (8 March 2004)
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References
- ^ Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Web Site. Sister Cities.[1]
External links
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