The world changed forever in 1453 when Constantinople, the center of the Roman Byzantine empire, fell to the Ottomans. This event brought an end to the thousand-year-old Byzantine Empire, reshaped the geopolitical landscape of Europe and the Middle East, and is often cited by historians as a key turning point that marked the end of the Middle Ages.

A new empire was born and it all started in a former Roman city only a two hour drive from modern-day Istanbul. Welcome to Bursa.

Before Bursa, the Ottomans were just another nomadic warrior tribe in Southeastern Turkey. Bursa was an important administrative and commercial city in the Eastern Roman Empire protected by strong walls. After a 10-year siege, led by an Ottoman named Orhan I, Bursa finally fell in 1326. Orhan immediately declared himself a sultan and made Bursa the capital of the Ottoman Beylik, beginning the process of building an empire that would eventually topple the Romans and Constantinople more than 100 years later.

The early Sultans embarked on a massive building program to transform Bursa from a Byzantine city into an Ottoman one.

Orhan built the city’s first Ottoman mosque, the Orhan Gazi Mosque (1339), along with a medrese (theological school), a hammam (public bath), and an imaret (soup kitchen for the poor). This concept of a mosque-centered public service complex, or külliye, would become a cornerstone of Ottoman urban planning for centuries.

The mosques and tombs built in Bursa, such as the Grand Mosque (Ulu Cami) and the Green Mosque (Yeşil Cami), established a distinct early Ottoman architectural style. This style, blending Seljuk Turkish and Byzantine influences with Persian decorative arts, was the precursor to the grand imperial designs later seen in Istanbul.

The Green Mosque (Yeşil Cami) & Green Tomb (Yeşil Türbe) are the jewels of Bursa with deep green and blue tilework that gives them their names. The craftsmanship here is considered a masterpiece of early Ottoman art. The Green Tomb, with its vibrant exterior, is the symbol of the city.

Orhan encouraged settlement and trade. Bursa’s strategic location made it a terminus of the Silk Road. The construction of the Koza Han (“Silk Cocoon Market”) in the 15th century solidified its status as the center of the lucrative silk trade, bringing immense wealth that funded the state’s military and administrative growth

Commissioned by the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I, the Grand Mosque of Bursa was built between 1396 and 1399 to commemorate his great victory over a Crusader army at the Battle of Nicopolis. Legend holds that the Sultan had vowed to build 20 mosques if he won the battle. Upon his return, on the advice of his son-in-law, he built this one grand mosque with 20 domes instead, fulfilling his promise in a unique way. It is considered the fifth most important mosque in Islam by some, after the mosques in Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, and Damascus.

The most striking feature is its roof, which consists of twenty domes arranged in four rows of five. This multi-domed plan creates a vast, sprawling prayer hall, unlike the later grand imperial mosques in Istanbul which feature a massive central dome. Uniquely, the mosque features a large and elegant ablution fountain inside the main prayer hall, directly beneath a central glass-covered dome. This skylight and fountain create a serene, light-filled focal point in the heart of the mosque, filling the space with the gentle sound of water.

Visiting Bursa opens up a whole new Turkey for those that have only visited Istanbul. In the beautiful architecture you get a sense of the real beginnings of the soul of the Ottoman Empire. It’s also a reminder that all empires fall eventually. The rise of the Ottomans spelled the end of Rome. The Ottoman’s too would fall, caught up in a World War beyond their ability to control.

Join Kongo in his next blog post about Gallipoli and the birthplace of modern Turkey.

Travel Safe. Have fun.