Mosque sights in Bursa
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Ulu Camii
This enormous Seljuk-style shrine (1396) is Bursa's most dominant and durable mosque. Sultan Beyazıt I built it in a monumental compromise – having pledged to build 20 mosques after defeating the Crusaders in the Battle of Nicopolis, he settled for one mosque, with 20 small domes. Outside, a massive minaret augments the domes, while giant square pillars and portals within are similarly impressive. The mimber (pulpit) boasts fine wood carvings, and the walls feature intricate calligraphy. Bursa's Karagöz shadow puppet theatre reportedly began with Ulu Camii's construction.
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B
Yeşil Camii
Built for Mehmet I between 1419 and 1424, Yeşil Camii represents a departure from the previous, Persian-influenced Seljuk architecture. Exemplifying Ottoman stylings, it contains a harmonious facade and beautiful carved marble work around the central doorway. Diverse calligraphy exists on the main door's niches.
Entering you'll pass beneath the sultan's apartments and into a domed central hall with 15m-high mihrab (niche indicating the direction of Mecca). The mosque was named for the interior wall's greenish-blue tiles – fragments of a few original frescoes remain. A narrow staircase leads to the sumptuously tiled hünkar mahfili (sultan's private box), above the main…
reviewed
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C
Emir Sultan Camii
An early Ottoman mosque, the 14th-century Emir Sultan was named for Sultan Bayezit I's Persian son-in-law and adviser, a Persian scholar-dervish. Today's structure reflects renovations made after a 1766 earthquake, and the then-fashionable Baroque style. Renovated by Selim III in 1805, it was damaged by the 1855 earthquake and rebuilt by Sultan Abdülaziz in 1858. In the1990s, it received more touch-ups.
Emir Sultan Camii echoes the romantic decadence of Ottoman rococo style – rich in wood, curves and outer painted arches. The interior is surprisingly plain, but enjoys a nice setting beside a tree-filled cemetery overlooking the valley. The oldest of several refreshing and…
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D
Yıldırım Beyazıt Camii
Across the valley from Emir Sultan Camii rises the twin-domed Yıldırım Beyazıt Camii, built by Mehmed I Çelebi's father, Bayezit from 1391-95 (it's also referred to as the Bayezit Camii). Its adjoining medrese is now a medical centre. The mosque houses tombs of Sultan Beyazıt I and his other son, İsa.
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I Murat (Hüdavendigar) Camii
The unusual I Murat Camii, features a barrel-vaulted Ottoman T-square design, and includes ground-floor zaviye (dervish hostel) rooms. The only visible part of the 2nd-floor facade gallery (originally a medrese) is the sultan's loge (box), above the mosque's rear.
reviewed