Must-see attractions in Western Anatolia

  • Tile Museum

    Western Anatolia

    Located in the non-working İmaret Cami, this museum showcases Kütahya's kiln-fired past. Ceramics include 14th-century Seljuk tile fragments and large…

  • Hızır Bey Cami

    Lake District

    Originally a Seljuk warehouse (built 1237), this simple stone structure in the centre became a mosque in 1308 under Hamidoğulları emir Hızır Bey. It…

  • Pınar Pazarı

    Lake District

    On Sundays between August and October, you can buy apples, cheese, yoghurt or even a goat at this village market run by the Yörük Turks, who descend from…

  • Lefke Gate

    Western Anatolia

    Part of İznik's Roman-Byzantine fortifications, the eastern Lefke Gate comprises three gateways dating from Byzantine times. The middle of these bears a…

  • Koza Han

    Bursa

    The finely restored Koza Han, with its leafy inner courtyard filled with cafes, is the most popular place to break your market explorations. The…

  • Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum

    Bursa

    Housed in the former medrese (seminary) of the Yeşil Cami, this museum contains 14th- to 16th-century İznik ceramics, jewellery, embroidery, calligraphy,…

  • Tombs of Sultans Osman & Orhan

    Bursa

    The tombs of Sultans Osman and Orhan, founders of the Ottoman Empire, are interred in a park at the summit of Bursa Citadel. The original structures were…

  • Karagöz Museum

    Bursa

    The collection at Bursa's Karagöz Museum includes magnificent Turkish, Uzbek, Russian and Romanian puppets and puppet-making tools. There are also regular…

  • Necropolis

    Pamukkale

    The necropolis (cemetery) at Hierapolis rambles across the hills and is one of the most fascinating parts of the ancient city ruins. The path through the…

  • Eski Aynalı Çarşı

    Bursa

    Originally built in 1335 as the Orhanbey Hamamı (the bathhouse of the Orhan Cami Külliyesi), Eski Aynalı Çarşı

  • Murat I (Hüdavendigâr) Cami

    Bursa

    This unusual mosque from 1366 features a barrel-vaulted Ottoman T-square design, and includes ground-floor zaviye (dervish hostel) rooms. The only visible…

  • Emir Han

    Bursa

    Camel caravans travelling the Silk Road to Bursa once lodged at Emir Han, entered at the rear of Ulu Cami. Drovers and merchants slept and did business…

  • Yeşil Cami

    Western Anatolia

    Built between 1378 and 1387 under Sultan Murat I, Yeşil Cami has Seljuk Turkish proportions, influenced by the Seljuk homeland of Iran. The minaret's…

  • Uludağ National Park

    Western Anatolia

    Close to Bursa and İstanbul, Uludağ (Great Mountain; 2543m) is Turkey's favourite ski resort. Hiking around the wooded slopes is also a popular activity…

  • Hüsnü Züber Evi

    Bursa

    Knock to gain entry to this restored 19th-century Ottoman house, located uphill behind Sultan Murat II Hamamı. The collection inside includes ornate…

  • Hellenistic Theatre

    Pamukkale

    Hack across the Hierapolis hillside, in a westerly direction from the Martyrium of St Philip the Apostle, and eventually you'll come to a completely…

  • Mevlevihane Museum

    Western Anatolia

    This old town museum, in the same courtyard as the Mevlevihane Cami, holds displays explaining dervish life. An optional audio tour (₺5) helps bring the…

  • Mudanya Mütareke Evi Müzesi

    Western Anatolia

    This whitewashed 19th-century house, where the Armistice of Moudania was signed by Italy, France, Britain and Turkey on 11 October 1922 (Greece…

  • North Gate

    Pamukkale

    About 3km from Pamukkale, on the road to Karahayıt, the northern gate into Hierapolis allows you to enter the site via the necropolis and Frontinus St.

  • Yenişehir Gate

    Western Anatolia

    İznik's most impressive stretch of historic city walls, reaching 10m to 13m in height, stand between this southern gate and the eastern Lefke Gate.

  • Bedre Beach

    Lake District

    To sunbathe on a sandy beach, head 11km out of the centre on the road from Eğirdir to Barla. Bedre Beach is best, with 1.5km of sand. You can walk or…

  • Bedesten

    Bursa

    The 14th-century Bedesten, built by Sultan Beyazıt I and reconstructed after an 1855 earthquake, is contained within Bursa's sprawling Kapalı Çarşı.

  • Agora

    Pamukkale

    The vast 2nd-century agora was once surrounded by marble porticoes with Ionic columns on three sides, and enclosed by a basilica on the fourth. It's one…

  • Gymnasium

    Pamukkale

    Only a few Doric columns remain from Hierapolis' 1st-century gymnasium, which was one of the social hubs of the ancient city. An earthquake in the 7th…

  • Fidanhan

    Bursa

    This han (caravanserai) is one of the calmest, leafiest corners of the busy bazaar area. It was constructed during Sultan Mehmet I's reign by the Grand…

  • İstanbul Gate

    Western Anatolia

    İznik's imposing northern gate, part of the fortified city walls, features huge stone carvings of heads facing outwards.

  • Tofaş Museum of Anatolian Carriages

    Bursa

    Old cars and horse-drawn carts are housed in this former silk factory with gardens. It's a 550m walk uphill, signposted right after the Setbaşı road…

  • Irgandı Köprüsü

    Bursa

    Spanning the gorge, north of the Setbaşı road bridge, this restored Ottoman bridge houses shops, cafes and touristy artisan workshops.

  • South Gate

    Pamukkale

    This entrance gate to Hierapolis is about 2.5km up the hill from Pamukkale village.

  • Middle Gate

    Pamukkale

    The middle gate to Hierapolis is at the bottom of the travertines, on the edge of Pamukkale village.

  • Roman Baths

    Pamukkale

    This 2nd-century baths complex later became a basilica during the Byzantine era.

  • Kaklık Mağarası

    Pamukkale

    A sort of underground Pamukkale, this cave gushes with calcium- and sulphur-rich water. The flow, into a large sinkhole, creates a bright white pyramid…

  • Sazova Park

    Eskişehir

    West of the centre on the Küthaya road, this area of cleared sazova (cane field) has been turned into a family friendly paradise of fresh air and rolling…

  • Church of the Koimesis

    Western Anatolia

    Scant foundations remain of the church that was once famous as the burial place of the Byzantine emperor Theodore I (Lascaris). Built around 800 and…

  • Archaeology Museum

    Western Anatolia

    Located in the Vacidiye Medresesi (1314), next door to the Ulu Cami, this old-school provincial museum exhibits finds from Ancient Aizanoi including a…

  • Museum of the Republican History

    Eskişehir

    This museum celebrates Atatürk and the Turkish Republic through hundreds of photos, paintings and collages covering seminal events such as the battles of…

  • Kütahya Fortress

    Western Anatolia

    Looming over Kütahya, this 8th-century Byzantine fortress was restored by the Seljuks, the Germiyan emirs and the Ottomans between the 13th and 15th…

  • İznik Viewpoint

    Western Anatolia

    Marked by a towering Turkish flag, İznik's hilltop viewpoint makes a good sunset walk (2km). From here you'll have views of the lake stretching away…