Bursa is Turkey's fourth largest city. It was known in the antiquity and the medieval period with the name Prusa. The city is known as "Ye?il Bursa" (meaning "Green
Bursa") from its beautiful parks and gardens located throughout the city. The city is famous for its ski resorts (on the mountain of Uluda?), the mausoleums of Ottoman sultans, the surrounding fertile plain, thermal baths and Karagöz & Hacivat shadow puppets. It is also the home of some famous Turkish foods, especially chestnut candy, peaches, and a meat dish called ?skender kebap.
The earliest known site at this location was Cius, which Philip V of Macedonia granted to the Bithynian king Prusias I in 202 BC, for his help against Pergamum and Heraclea Pontica (modern Karadeniz Ere?li). Prusias renamed the city for himself, Prusa. Because of its being the first Ottoman capital, Bursa is very rich in religious monuments, mosques, and tombs (turbes), baths. One of the places to be seen in Bursa is the Yesil Mosque (Green Mosque), with its carved marble doorway which is one of the best in Anatolia. It is an elaborate and significant building in the new Turkish style. Just opposite, is the Yesil Tomb "Green Tomb", set in a green garden with an enchanting exterior decorated with turquoise tiles. Near the tomb, the Medresse complements the others and makes this the "green" trio, now it houses the Ethnographical Museum which certainly deserves visiting. The Yildirim Beyazit Mosque is important as it is the first one built in the new Ottoman style and is accompanied by the Emir Sultan Mosque which lies in a peaceful setting.
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It was later a major city, located on the westernmost end of the famous
Silk Road, and was the capital of the Ottoman Empire following its capture from the Byzantines in 1326 until the capture of Edirne in 1365 and remained an important administrative and commercial center even after it lost its status as the capital. During the rule of the Ottomans, Bursa was the source of most royal
silk products. It received the raw silk from Iran, and occasionally China, and was the 'factory' for the kaftans, pillows, embroidery and other
silk products for the royal palaces up through the 17th century. Some of these included golden or silver silk thread which were of particular luxury because they were made by wrapping extremely thin gold or silver wire around a single silk thread by hand. Another traditional occupation is knife making and horse carriage building. Nowadays you can still find hand made knifes, and instead of carriages, there is a big automobile industry.
