Museum sights in Bursa
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City Museum
Bursa has a state-of-the-art City Museum, housed in what was once the old courthouse at Heykel. Ground-floor exhibits whip through the history of the city, with information on the sultans most closely associated with it. Unfortunately, the labelling is in Turkish only, apart from the section headings. Luckily the cultural and ethnographical collections upstairs need little explanation.
Down in the basement there are reconstructions of old shops which are wonderful, with films showing old-fashioned artisans at work. Newspaper clippings also show a couple of local characters to look out for: Deli Ayten, the banjo-playing bag lady, and 'Tarzan Ali', a 59-year-old former acti…
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Karagöz Sanat Evi
In Bursa, Şinasi Çelikkol has worked hard to keep the tradition of Karagöz puppetry alive and was instrumental in the setting up of the Karagöz Sanat Evi, opposite the Karagöz monument. It houses a small museum of puppetry with some magnificent examples from Uzbekistan. Şinasi Çelikkol's ethnographical collection is also on display here. If you would like to see the collection privately call into his shop - called, inevitably, Karagöz - in the Eski Aynalı Çarşı for an appointment.
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Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum
Nearby the Yeşil Camii is its medrese (seminary), which now houses the Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum. The collection includes pre-Ottoman İznik ceramics, the original door and mihrab curtains from the Yeşil Camii, jewellery, embroidery, calligraphy and dervish artefacts.
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Tofaş Museum of Anatolian Carriages
A short uphill walk south from Setbaşı, along Sakaldöken Caddesi, brings you to a small museum exhibiting old cars and even older horse-drawn carts. If the kids are all mosqued-out, bring along a few picnic goodies to throw together in the lovely Ottoman gardens. The museum used to be a silk factory.
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Ulumay Museum of Ottoman Folk Costumes & Jewellery
Also near the Sultan Murat II Camii is the Ulumay Museum of Ottoman Folk Costumes & Jewellery, an impressive private collection housed in the 1475 Sair Ahmet Paşa medrese. Affable owner/curator Esat Ulumay, a former economist and sword-dancer now considered a leading expert in Ottoman costume, likes to take visitors round the displays personally.
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Ottoman House Museum
Across the park from the Sultan II Murat Camii mosque is the Ottoman House Museum, which should now be open, although it's pot luck whether you find anyone there even during normal opening hours. On the western side of the tombs is the 15th-century Muradiye Medresesi, a theological seminary restored in 1951 as a tuberculosis clinic.
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C
Archaeological Museum
Inside the cultural Park is the Archaeological Museum, a predominantly classical collection of finds from local sites with little in the way of context or English signage.
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Bursa City Museum
Bursa's modern City Museum is housed in the city's former courthouse. Ground-floor exhibits zip through the history of the city, with information on the various ruling sultans. Especially interesting is the display on the War of Independence. Most labels are in Turkish, so ask for the handy booklet with English translations. Upstairs the cultural and ethnographical collections need little explanation, and down in the basement are reconstructions of old shops with films showing old-fashioned artisans at work. Don't miss the multimedia touch screens that allow visitors to explore the gloriously retro music and acting careers of a few of Bursa's luminaries from last century.
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