Bursa

Bursa (Turkish pronunciation: [ˈbuɾsa]) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of Turkey's automotive production takes place in Bursa. As of 2019, the Metropolitan Province was home to 3 238 618 inhabitants, 2 283 697 of whom lived in the 3 city urban districts (Osmangazi, Yıldırım and Nilüfer) plus Gürsu and Kestel. Its rich history provides various places of interest in Bursa. Bursa became the capital of the Ottoman Empire (back then the Ottoman Beylik) from 1335 until the 1360s. A more recent nickname is Yeşil Bursa ("Green Bursa") referring to the parks and gardens located across the city, as well as to the vast, varied forests of the surrounding region. Bursa has a rather orderly urban growth and borders a fertile plain. The mausoleums of the early Ottoman sultans are located in Bursa, and the city's main landmarks include numerous edifices built throughout the Ottoman period. Bursa also has thermal baths, old Ottoman mansions, palaces, and several museums. Mount Uludağ, known in classical antiquity as the Mysian Olympus or alternatively Bithynian Olympus, towers over the city, and has a well-known ski resort. The shadow play characters Karagöz and Hacivat are based on historic personalities who lived and died in Bursa in the 14th century.