Budget Istanbul – Bursa 5 Days 4 Night

About this tour

Bursa, city, northwestern Turkey. It is situated along the northern foothills of Ulu Dağ (the ancient Mysian Olympus).

Probably founded by a Bithynian king in the 3rd century bce, it prospered during Byzantine times after the emperor Justinian I (reigned 527–565 ce) built a palace there. The city first fell to the Seljuq Turks at the end of the 11th century, but, beginning with the First Crusade in 1096, it changed hands several times. After the sack of Constantinople (now Istanbul) by Crusaders in 1204, it served as a centre of Byzantine resistance. The Ottomans took it in the 1320s and made it their first great capital, but Timur (Tamerlane) sacked the city in 1402, and, when the Ottomans recovered their territory, they relocated their capital, first to Edirne (1413) and later to Constantinople (1458). Bursa, nevertheless, expanded and prospered under Ottoman rule.