Bursa Off The Beaten Path

Karagoz & Hacivat

Karagoz, literally Black-Eye, is the hero of the Turkish shadow play. Uneducated but with plenty of native wit, he inevitably gets the better of his gentile friend Hacivad, who is no match for Karagoz despite his education. For centuries the zill-i hayal (imaginary shadow), as the shadow play was called in the past, entertained Turkish audiences. Diverse origins have been cited for the shadow play, including Java, India, Spain, Portugal and Egypt. It is believed by some that the play was first performed for the Ottoman Sultan Selim I (1512-1520) in Egypt following his conquest of the Memluks. more.....

By Ersin Alok

Please visit Karagoz TV , It is a very well designed Flash application also in English.
Thanks to the creator Mr. Faruk A. Korkmaz and Flashblind productions.

Houses of old Bursa. Bursa is situated under the foots of Uludag. The alleys and streets in the old Bursa are very narrow and houses are very close to each other, it is woth visiting ! Go to Tophane and then explore the alleys by yourself.

At the entrance to Koza Han, tea shops catch ones attention. Sitting by the central fountain on a rush stool drinking coffee is an unforgettable experience. Each coffee cup is decorated with timeless designs.

B U T T I M
For 600 years Bursa has been Turkey's most important silk and textile center, maintaining this status since the republic. The city has seen great development with automotive, food and machine sectors being added to its textile industry. One of the main roads passing through the plain of Bursa, the Yalova road, is lined with hypermarkets and business centers. One of these is the Bursa Textile Trade Center whose construction completed. It is expected, all the textile offices will move to the building.

Bursa Town Hall, with its original Ottoman architecture, lies in the center of the city on Atatürk Caddesi... The building stands like a proud representative of Bursa's eroding historical fabric among concrete buildings and business centers.

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Picture shows a Döner Kebap maker , a view from Uludag famous winter sports center near Bursa and an old street from Bursa with old houses. years ago I was walking through all these old streets of Bursa just volunteerly to get lost in between these houses.

There were 2 teagardens near Yeþil Mosque and Mauseleum and when sitting there you could contemplate the typical view of the roofs of these houses all made of the same bricks..

There was also a waiter there serving in this tea garden..He had a crazy memory .I was going there with tourist groups to have a break and he was just listening to each of the clients in a group of 10-20-30 people and then was remembering all drinks ordered..

Then he was starting to shour or sing and say without any error ' 5 teaaaas , 6 coffeees 1 seven-up 3 cokes etc...' He was additioning in his mind all orders at once.....

The famous green tiles which adorn the Green Tomb were crafted by a master by the name of Mecnun Mehmed... These gorgeous tiles are falling like tears and disappearing.