Bursa Off The Beaten Path

Turkey is the country which has the most number of manuscript books in all sciences among Islamic countries. There are 13 libraries which houses the manuscripts. The one in Bursa is the 3rd biggest manuscript library of Turkey with its 8773 manuscript books. It's called Inebey Library and it is mostly visited by academicians stuying on history, philology, literature, bibliography and several other social sciences and knowing Arabic, Farsic and/or Ottoman languages. If you are an academician interested in one of those you may want to visit the library. It is open everyday except Sunday-Monday. It is at Tahtakale Inebey Street No:5.(Just nearby the historical Inebey Hamam). The library is situated an old Madrasa remained from 14th century.

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Golyazi is a village on 35th km of Bursa-Izmir way. It is situated on an island in the middle of Ulubat lake. It is possible to reach the village by a bridge.

This lovely village is being habitaned since the 1.century A.D. The people of this old village are mostly fisher (both man and woman). Everyday the fresh fish is sold through auction on a bazzar in the middle of the village.

There are lovely cafes, fish-restaurants in the village. It is possible to get on the fishers's boats to go around the island. There are very nice old Greek houses in the village. People are very welcoming and talkative.

You must not miss the "crying tree". It is a plane-tree which is more then 730 years old.

The sunset is wonderful. Therefore many phographers goes to the village to take photos.

You may observe storks and many other migrant birds in the village. Here are some photos of Golyazi taken by a friend.

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Suuctu is a popular excursion spot of popular people 13 km. away from Kemalpasa district of Bursa. The water comes down from 38m long large rocks. It is possible to drink the water. It is a very nice place to freshen up especially at hot summer days.

Bursa is located at the base and up the lower slopes of Uludag, a mountain well over 7000 feet high with a national park and ski resort. Even in June, the upper areas are still cold and damp with snow on the ground. A journey up the mountain from Bursa brings one through pleasant wooded farming country and into progerssively cooler and more thickly forested areas full of deer and mountain streams. The countryside is, except where farmed, thick with forests and verdent vegetation, so even in mid June it is very geen. It's also a great escape if the weather is hot, because the temperature drops steadily as one climbs the mountain.

To visit the area, take a road out of Bursa up Uludag. The main road leading to the ski resort and park is excellent and the drive is easy.

Zeytinbagi (also known with its historic name : Tirilye) is a small town just 11 km away from Mudanya . This small town where only 2500 people live is a very peaceful place with great history.

In the town you can visit ruins of very old Byzantine churches if you are interested in. Or you may simply wander in the streets (there are not many of them, it is a very very small town) and see old Greek houses built at the end of 19.th century. This town is under protection by the Ministry of Culture so no body can destroy the old houses or rebuild them in a different style than the original one.

By the sea there are nice fish restaurants. You can have your meal in one of them. The place is famous for its olives. Actually, Zeytingbagi means olive yard and you can taste nice olives and olive oil in the town.

If you are in Bursa, take a Mudanya minibus from the city center and when you take off at Mudanya, take the Tirilye minibus (they take of every 5 minutes)

If you are in Istanbul take a seabus to Mudanya (the trip takes 1h 45minutes)and then take the Tirilye minibus.

You can find more information and pictres at my Zeytinbagi pages.

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The 600-year old plane tree at Inkaya, attract people to this old, little village where only 85 families live.

Inkaya is a village just a few miles away from Bursa on the way to Uludag (Mount Olympos). It is one of the oldest villages of Bursa founded by Ottomans. There is a giant plane tree in the village with almost 10-metre circumference trunk which make this place a touristic attraction. There are restaurants, gift shops, cafes around the tree and it is a popular place among local people as well. On sunny summer days, it is nice to go up to the Inkaya tree and have a cup of tea or eat grilled meat under the tree.

The Husnu Zuber House is a 19th-century Ottoman house belonging to Turkish artist Husnu Zuber, who restored it mostly in 19th century style. It is open to the public and also contains a display of Anatolian wooden implements, in particular traditional Anatolian wooden spoons, often intricately decorated and resembling traditional Russian wooden items. In addition, visitors can see examples of Husnu Zuber's striking art. Although this is certainly off the beaten path, I highly recommend it.

It is in Muradiye, on Uzunyol Sokagi, a narrow little street not far from the Kultur Parki, west of Tophane and central Bursa. In Muradiye, one can see signs for it.

This is very special place wth many small cafes and souvenir shops around the thomb in Byrsa.It is famous wth its ceramic decorations and tourcoise ceramic cower on it.The location:Yeshil district Bursa.You can reach by bus or taxi there from the city center in Heykel square.