Before the restoration

A piece of old wall next to the newly restored Balibey Han. This is more or less what Balibey Han looked like before the work so you can see what a good job they did.

Vantage Point

This house must have a good view. It is in the oldest part of Bursa but it has been nicely renovated. The front overlooks the covered market and Ulu Cami.

Lost in fog

We are getting some wintery weather at the moment. You can just see the roofs of the covered market here through the haze. The domes are quite typical of Ottoman architecture (there are some very similar looking buildings in the centre of Sarajevo). On the right is a corner of the Ulu Camii.

Great guns

These cannons are also in the Tophane park next to the clock tower. From Tophane you can hear a cannon shot every evening during Ramadan, to mark the end of the fast. I don't know if they use one of these though.

Apolyont Han

The Apolyont Han is right next to the Zafer Plaza and has just been renovated. A lot of small shops and restaurants have opened inside.

Tophane Clock Tower

Tophane is situated on a small hill overlooking Bursa, and it is where this view over Bursa was taken from. The Tophane clock tower is in the Tophane park, and dates from 1906.

Inside Yesil Mosque

The Yeşil Cami (Green Mosque) is very atmospheric inside. This is a detail of the ceiling and below there are some beautiful green / blue tiles. The hanging chandeliers give a lovely light.

Walls in the old city

This wall is on the edge of the covered bazaar complex, facing onto Cumhuriyet (Republic) street. It seems like there used to be more of it, possibly it was removed to make room for the street.

Entrance to Ulu Cami

"the second entrance of the big mosque(Ulu Camii)...you have to leave your shoes outside the mosque ...it is forbidden to walk with shoes inside ..there is a huge carpet on the floor...before everybody was leavng them outside,nowadays they are giving plastic bags to put the shoes in because they might be taken(stole) by somebody..."

Underground fountain

"this historical fountain is very inside of the bazaar...the covered market in Bursa has got so many little roads inside..you walk through one of these and you can come to this old fountain made of marble...you can drink clean water from the mount of Uludag.."

Corner of Ulu Cami

I haven't managed to get a good shot of the Ulu Cami (Great Mosque) yet because it's just too big, so this glimpse will have to do for now. It is right in the centre of town and is an unmissable landmark.

Bathtime

A different view of the hamam in Çekirge, this time from the other side.

By the way we promised pictures inside the hamam... in fact we still didn't manage it because the inside is very humid with all the steam. We are still working out how to stop the camera from steaming up!

Heykel

This statue is of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic. The square is called 'heykel' which means statue.

Green Tomb

This beautiful tomb is in Yesil, opposite the Green Mosque. It is closed for refurbishment at the moment, as you can see from this part which has been finished, they are doing a good job.

Yesil mosque stone carving

An example of the beautiful and intricate carving of the Yesil Mosque. Much of the mosque is decorated like this, however parts are not finished due to a war whilst the mosque was still being built.

Yesil Mosque window

A window of the Yesil Cami (Green Mosque). The mosque was built at the beginning of the 15th century and was where the Sultan went to pray. It has survived several earthquakes.

Inside is very beautiful, with many coloured tiles like the ones you can see here. Originally these tiles were green, giving the mosque its name, but with time the colour has faded to a kind of turqoise blue.

A present from Greece

"this little olive tree is a present from Greece ..the symbol of peace&friendship...ironicly greeks &turks are best friends abroad but sometimes less so when Aegean sea is the case..i mean when they are neighboors..."

Gateway to the past

"an old house door from -cekirge(means grasshopper ,i think there were a lot here because before cekirge was full of forests, it is on the way to uludag)-...i am curious about the house and the garden ...maybe behind the door there is Alaaddin and his friends:)))"

Queen Elizabeth II visits Bursa

Yesterday was a day of great excitement in Bursa because Queen Elizabeth came to visit. Of course today the visit is in all the newspapers... The headline means 'the eyes of the world were on this trip'.

She visited Koza Han, where she bought a silk scarf and ate a specially prepared lunch of Turkish food. Later she visited the Yesil Mosque (green mosque). In the picture she is listening to prayers in the mosque. The people of Bursa appreciated the visit very much.

On the BBC website you can see a short film of the Queen's visit to Bursa.

Murad I tomb

Opposite the Hüdavendigar mosque of yesterday is the tomb of sultan Murad I. He was the third Ottoman sultan and was killed at the battle of Kosovo in 1389 (during Ottoman expansion into the Balkans).