Welcome to Bursa!
Bursa, the fourth-largest Turkish city, is in the northwestern part of the country, just south of the Sea of Marmara. The first impression of the city might be that of a large, concrete-ridden modern metropolis that is betraying its largely recognized Turkish epithet of Yeşil Bursa ("Green Bursa"), and its historical prominence as being the cradle of the Ottoman state, however, upon a closer look you will see it really lives up to its name, by proudly displaying its Ottoman heritage in the shape of many mosques, tombs, and lovely quarters of old houses, as well as by harbouring many pleasant parks, which fill the city with fresh air, and provide the weary traveler some shade to rest in, and even if you haven't found the parks sufficient enough to have this city earned the honorific of "green", then the lush woodlands of Mt. Uludağ are just above that steep hill.
In 2014, Bursa and a nearby village of Cumalıkızık were added to the UNESCO world heritage list. The remains at several sites illustrate the creation of an urban and rural system establishing the Ottoman Empire in the early 14th century.
Bursa (Turkish, Ottoman Turkish: بُروسه, Latin: Prusa) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of Turkey's automotive production takes place in Bursa.
As of 2019, the Metropolitan Province was home to 3,056,120 inhabitants, 2,161,990 of whom lived in the 3 city urban districts (Osmangazi, Yildirim, and Nilufer) plus Gursu and Kestel, largely conurbated. Bursa was the first major and second overall capital of the Ottoman State between 1335 and 1363. The city was referred to as Hüdavendigar (خداوندگار, meaning "God's gift" in Ottoman Turkish, a name of Persian origin) during the Ottoman period, while a more recent nickname is Yeşil Bursa ("Green Bursa") in reference to the parks and gardens located across its urban fabric, as well as to the vast and richly varied forests of the surrounding region. Mount Uludağ, the ancient Mysian Olympus, towers over it and has a well-known ski resort. Bursa has rather orderly urban growth and borders a fertile plain. The mausoleums of the early Ottoman sultans are located in Bursa, and the city's main landmarks include numerous edifices built throughout the Ottoman period. Bursa also has thermal baths, old Ottoman mansions, palaces, and several museums.
The shadow play characters Karagöz and Hacivat are based on historic personalities who lived and died in Bursa in the 14th century.