Surroundings, Bursa

The Uludag massif (2,543m/8,344ft) 17km/11mi south of Bursa, is the most popular and best-equipped winter sports area in Turkey and also, with its forest and Alpine meadows, an excellent holiday area for those seeking rest and relaxation. The massif consists mainly of granites and gneisses, with some metamorphic rocks higher up, and shows signs of glacial action (corries, etc.). It has preserved a very varied flora and fauna. Uludag offers numerous viewpoints (many reached only by a strenuous walk) from which in good weather the prospect extends to Istanbul and the Bosporus or Black Sea.A cable car goes up from Bursa to the northwest plateau (1,700m/5,579ft). There is also a scenic road (bus route) to Büyük Uludag Oteli.

The port of Yalova occupies a delightful position about 70km/43mi north of Bursa on the southern shores of the Gulf of Izmit. Ferries run to Istanbul, Kartal and Darica (passenger ferry terminus in Yalova, car ferry terminus 10km/6mi further east).

Yenisehir, an unpretentious little town (alt. 230m/755ft) in the Yenisehir Ovasi, 55km/33mi east of Bursa, was the Ottoman capital prior to the fall of Bursa. The town has lately become alive again to its history and a number of old Ottoman buildings have been restored, the most interesting being the early 15th century Süleiman Pasa Külliyesi, originally consisting of a caravanserai, medrese and mosque. Now returned to its former role as a Koranic school, the beautifully restored 27 x 30m/88 x 98ft Süleiman Pasa Medresesi, or "Janissary Barracks" as it is also known, is the center-piece of the ensemble. Square domed cells, occupied once more by students, surround its rectangular courtyard. The windows, originally arched, have been squared off. Of the south front only the little octagonal mosque adjoining it survives. Immediately to the east of the medrese are remnants of the foundations of the caravanserai, the rest having long since disappeared. Opposite the medrese stands the Sinan Pasa Camii, the mosque belonging to the Külliyesi.

This restored 16th century town house in Davutoglu Sokagi (in the town center) has been turned into a museum. As well as the old open balcony (now glazed for greater protection) it has a divan room and two living-rooms with painted, ornamented coffered ceilings, chimneys with pointed hoods, and decorated alcove cupboards.Outside the town, on a long-settled hill in what is now the Baba Sultan Parki, stand the remains of a convent which, until 1920, belonged to the Kadri dervishes, itinerant monks commonly revered as "saints". One of their number, "Baba Sultan", commandeered the convent mosque for his tomb. Although converted back into a mosque, none of the Moslem faithful will worship there today.