Saints on the water

Follow the Odrysses (Nilüfer Çayı) down from Mysian Olympus (Uludağ),  “Mountain of Monks” which hosted many monks during ages, you’ll reach Prusa ad Olympum (Bursa) – the city of saints and also the city of waters according to Evliya Çelebi.

Since story begins with Odrysses, you may wonder how its name transformed in Nilüfer Çayı. It’s not clearly known why Ottomans started to call it as Nilüfer, it may be beacuse of the waterlilies on the river (waterlily means Nilüfer in Turkish) or it may be related with Holifer (Nilüfer Hatun), the wife of Orhan I (Orhan Gazi).  Orhan I is the son of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Osman I (Osman Gazi). You can see them both resting in peace at Tophane just after walking up the street near by Saltanat Kapısı (don’t forget to eat Pideli Köfte just before that historical door, it’s delicious). Also, Muradiye Külliyesi, the last complex -among its fellows- built during the Ottoman Empire, is close to Tophane, but it’s better to take a bus to reach there.

While going back to center (if you haven’t eaten Pideli Köfte, try the İskender, both will be a disaster for your stomach together, but you should try at least one of them, because you can’t find a better place to try them in anywhere else in the world than Bursa), you’ll see the Grand Mosque (Ulu Cami). In my opinion, it is really well-designed inside, see also the fountain (Şadırvan) which is built on a non-Muslim citizen’s lot who didn’t want a mosque to be constructed there ( So, the Sultan thought, since, the lot was taken without consent, it wouldn’t be proper to practice Namaz on that lot, that’s why the lot became the best place for the fountain).

Also, Hacivat and Karagöz were working for the construction of Ulu Cami. They’re the main characters of traditional Turkish Shadow Game (Gölge Oyunu). But, they were interrupting other workers with their jokes, they paid this with their lifes (Thanks God, nobody forgot them with the help of Gölge Oyunu) . You can see their contiguous tombs near to Reşat Oyal Kültür Parkı (one of the biggest parks in Europe) on Çekirge street.

After leaving them behind, if you’ll have the chance to go a few kms more up to İnkaya town, you’ll see the great plane tree (İnkaya Çınarı) which is more than 600 years old. I wish, you could have heard these stories from it, it could have also told you about Green Tomb (Yeşil Türbe) on the opposite part of the city, Heykel (Atatürk Statue) at the center, and many other places and people. But, basicly, the main point would be the same, I guess, Bursa is a beautiful city to see.