Friday, July 17, 2009

The Great Bursa - Outside Istanbul - Day 2 - Part 2

After Lunch, we visited the Yesil Cami literally translated as the Green mosque. The mosque was right next to the Hunkar Restaurant. Yesil Cami also known as Mosque of Mehmed I was built because to show that peace has returned after the battle among siblings in the country.


Yesil Cami main entrance

The door is crowned by a half dome with a cascade of mocarabe (stalactites)
that taper into the a star.

The interior of the mosque is decorated
with a mosaic blue-green tiles of the walls and richly decorated eyvans.

Next we walked over to restored Ottoman Traditional Houses
it has been transformed into a shop.
We got a feel of what kind of lifestyle the people during the Ottoman lived.
To me I would say pretty extravagantly!

Mom in front of a Traditional Ottoman House
Looks nothing much outside but look at the interior.


Its so charming .
They even have a secret garden at the top of the house!

After that our guide took us to UluCami which means the "great mosque" of Bursa. It was built in the early Ottoman period, in 1399, it resembles more of seljuq buildings of inland Anatolia than the typical Ottoman mosque such as The Blue Mosque in Istanbul that was built later.
This is the our Bursa guide. He's one funny fellow.

The UluCami from a far

The UluCami upclose

UluCami's interior

For our last stop we walked to the old silk market in the cover bazaar. Boy, it was bustling with people usually people who are about to get married come here to shop for goods. They have all sorts from wedding deco to jewelerry to wedding dresses to home deco etc etc etc and all at a bargained price which depends on how good is your bargaining skill! :P

This is the entrance of the covered bazaar

This is inside the bazaar which looks pretty big to me
and now makes me wonder how big actually is the grand bazaar?
That will be on the last day of my adventures in Istanbul. :)

So what's next for my adventures in Istanbul?
Well we'll be heading to the Prince's Islands for Day 3!

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