Mosque sights in Bursa
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
Ulu Cami
Prominently positioned on Atatürk Caddesi is the huge Ulu Cami, which is completely Seljuk in style and easily the most imposing of Bursa's mosques. Yıldırım Beyazıt funded the monumental building in 1396. His original pledge – following victory over the Crusaders in the Battle of Nicopolis – was to build 20 new mosques. His grandiose plans eventually got watered down to one mosque with 20 small domes, but despite the design trade-off, Ulu Cami is still a bold architectural statement. A minaret of daunting girth augments the 20 domes of the exterior, while inside the 'bigger is better' theme continues with immense portals and a forest of square pillars. Notice the fine wo…
reviewed
-
B
Yeşil Camii
A few minutes' walk uphill from Setbaşı, the Yeşil Camii, built for Mehmet I between 1419 and 1424, is a beautiful building representing a turning point in Turkish architectural style. Before this, Turkish mosques echoed the Persian style of the Seljuks, but in the Yeşil Camii a purely Turkish style emerged, and its influence is visible in Ottoman architecture across the country. Note the harmonious facade and the beautiful carved marble work around the central doorway. Look closely and you'll see the calligraphy around the niches framing the main door is all different and in some cases unfinished, the legacy of construction petering out three years after the death of Meh…
reviewed
-
C
Emir Sultan Camii
Rebuilt by Selim III in 1805 and restored in the early 1990s, the Emir Sultan Camii echoes the romantic decadence of Ottoman rococo style, rich in wood, curves and painted arches on the outside. The interior is surprisingly plain, but the setting, next to a tree-filled cemetery overlooking the valley, is very pleasant.
Take a dolmuş heading for Emirsultan or any bus with 'Emirsultan' in its name. Walking from Yeşil Camii and Yeşil Türbe, you'll pass a cemetery containing the grave of İskender Usta, the kebap maestro himself.
reviewed
