Bursa is the city where the Ottoman story begins. Before Istanbul, before the conquests and the empire, there was Bursa — the first capital, the place where the founders built the state that would become one of the great powers of the world. But the history of the city begins long before the Ottomans: the ancient Prusa, the Roman and the Byzantine city, and the towns of the earlier ages. And the culture of Bursa — the tiles, the silk, the food, and the traditions — grew from those centuries. This guide tells the story of the first capital: the history and the culture that made the city. Here is the history and culture of Bursa.
The Ancient Prusa
The history of Bursa begins with the ancient city — Prusa, the settlement of the Bithynian kingdom. The city was founded in the third century BC, in the region of Bithynia — the ancient country of the northwest of Anatolia — and it grew into a city of the region: the thermal springs of the place were known from the early days, and the settlement clustered below the mountain that the Greeks called Olympos. The city passed through the history of the ancient world: the kingdom of Bithynia, then the Roman province, and then the Byzantine world. The traces of the ancient city survive in the archaeology of the region — the finds of the periods, and the foundations beneath the later city. The ancient Prusa was the seed of the Bursa that followed.
The Roman and the Byzantine City
The Roman and the Byzantine centuries shaped the early city. Under the Romans, Prusa was a city of the province — the baths of the springs developed, the trade of the region flowed, and the city held its place in the world of the Roman east. Under the Byzantines, the city held a frontier position — the western edge of the Byzantine world, facing the Seljuk and then the Ottoman lands — and the city’s role changed with the centuries: the fortress, the market, and the border city. The Christian centuries left their traces: the churches and the monasteries of the region, and the traditions of the Byzantine world. The Roman and the Byzantine Bursa was the long prelude — the centuries that prepared the city for the Ottomans.
The Ottoman Founding
The founding of the Ottoman state is the central chapter of the Bursa story. The Ottoman dynasty began in the late thirteenth century in the frontier lands of the northwest — the small state of Osman Bey, the founder — and the growth of the state came quickly: the conquests of the region, the expansion of the territory, and the crossing into the Byzantine lands. The capture of Bursa came in 1326 — the long siege that ended in the city’s surrender — and the city became the capital of the growing state: the first capital of the Ottomans, the place where the dynasty established its rule. Osman’s son Orhan made the city the center of the state, and the buildings of the founding — the mosques, the tombs, and the institutions — made Bursa the heart of the new world. The founding of the Ottoman Empire is the beginning of the city’s glory.
The Capital of the Empire
For the decades of the founding, Bursa was the capital of the Ottoman state — the center of the dynasty and the growth of the empire. The city grew with the state: the trade flourished — the silk of the caravans, the commerce of the region — and the city became the wealthy center of the early Ottoman world. The sultans built the monuments of the founding: the mosques, the tombs, the baths, and the institutions that made Bursa the model of the Ottoman city. The tombs of the founders — Osman and Orhan — stand in the city, and the great buildings of the fourteenth century — the Ulu Cami, the Green Mosque — mark the growth of the capital. The capital years of Bursa lasted into the fifteenth century, when the sultans moved the center of the state — first to Edirne, and eventually to Constantinople — but the city kept its place: the first capital, the sacred city of the dynasty.
The City of the Sultans’ Tombs
The role of Bursa in the Ottoman world continued long after the capital moved: the city became the burial place of the dynasty — the resting place of the sultans and the princes. The tombs of the founders — Osman and Orhan — stand above the old city, and the later sultans built their mausoleums in the city: the tombs of the Muradiye complex, the resting places of the princes and the sultans of the later centuries. The Ottoman tradition of the burial in Bursa — the sacred city of the founding — gave the city its special character: the place where the dynasty’s dead rest, and the city that the sultans continued to build and endow. The tombs of Bursa are the history in marble and tile — the founders and the princes, remembered in the city of the beginning.
The Tiles of Iznik
The culture of Bursa is inseparable from the tiles — the ceramics of the region that became the glory of the Ottoman art. The town of İznik — near the city — held the kilns that produced the famous wares: the blue-and-white ceramics of the early period, and the polychrome tiles of the later centuries, the blues, the greens, the reds, and the whites of the Iznik palette. The tiles of Bursa adorn the monuments of the city: the Green Mosque and the Green Tomb — the namesakes of the glazed surfaces — and the tombs of the Muradiye, the finest interiors of the tilework. The Iznik tiles spread from the region to the empire: the mosques and the palaces of the Ottoman world, decorated with the ceramics of the kilns. The tile is the signature of the Bursa culture — the art of the region, in the monuments of the city.
The Silk and the Trade
The silk is the commerce of the Bursa culture — the trade that made the city rich and built its great market. The silk arrived from the east — the caravans from Persia and beyond — and the city worked and traded it: the silk market of the Koza Han, the trade of the caravanserais, and the commerce that connected the east and the west. The silk of Bursa became the fabric of the courts — the garments and the textiles of the Ottoman world — and the trade made the city one of the great markets of the region. The culture of the trade lives in the city’s architecture: the hans of the market — the caravanserais of the commerce — the Koza Han the most beautiful of them. The silk is the memory of the trade — the wealth of the city, in the fabric of its history.
The Food of the City
The food of Bursa is the taste of the culture — the dishes that grew from the city and the region. The İskender kebab — the perfected döner with the tomato sauce, the yogurt, and the melted butter — is the invention of the region, and the dish that carries the city’s name across the world. The pide of the ovens, the köfte of İnegöl, the candied chestnuts of the sweet shops, and the peaches of the plain — the produce and the dishes of the region. The food of Bursa grew from the history: the palace cuisine and the working kitchens, the trade routes and the local farms — the layers of the culture on the plate. The food is the living culture of the first capital: the dishes of the centuries, served in the city that made them.
The Traditions of the City
The traditions of Bursa carry the culture into the present: the rituals and the practices that the city has kept through the centuries. The tea culture — the gardens and the glasses of the city — the social ritual of the day. The bath culture — the thermal springs and the hamam — the tradition of the bathing that the Romans began and the Ottomans perfected. The hospitality — the tea offered, the welcome given — the warmth of the regional culture. And the crafts — the silk, the tiles, the copper, and the woodwork — the traditions of the artisans, carried on in the market. The traditions of Bursa are the living culture: the practices of the centuries, in the life of the modern city.
The Culture of the First Capital
There is a deeper identity to the culture of Bursa: the sense of the beginning. The city knows itself as the place where the Ottoman story started — the first capital, the city of the founders — and the identity runs through the culture: the monuments of the founding, the tombs of the dynasty, and the pride of the city’s place in the history. The visitor feels it in the old city: the mosques of the fourteenth century, the tombs of the founders, and the market that has served the centuries. The culture of Bursa is the culture of the origin — the beginning of the empire, and the city that carries the memory of it. And the modern city lives with the heritage: the history preserved, the culture carried on, and the first capital still standing at the foot of its mountain.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Bursa important in history?
Bursa is important as the first capital of the Ottoman Empire — the city where the dynasty established its rule in the early fourteenth century. The city holds the monuments of the founding, the tombs of the sultans, and the art and the trade of the early Ottoman world.
What is Bursa known for culturally?
Bursa is known for its Iznik tiles — the ceramics that adorned the monuments of the empire — its silk trade, its cuisine — the İskender kebab above all — and its traditions: the tea culture, the thermal baths, and the crafts of the market. The city is the cultural heart of the Ottoman founding.
How old is Bursa?
The ancient city of Prusa was founded in the third century BC, and the Ottoman Bursa was established as the capital in 1326. The city thus spans more than two thousand years, from the Bithynian kingdom through the Roman, the Byzantine, and the Ottoman ages.
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