Once Upon A Time In Bursa

The new book on Bursa
Published by the Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) throws light on the city’s history.
Bursa is a city that played a role in the history of Ottoman and Islamic civilization and was important especially in the process of urbanization in Turkey. The album published by IRCICA includes century-old images of Bursa and its monuments today, 300 years after they were described by Evliya Çelebi in his Book of Travels.

Bursa has a special significance for Evliya Çelebi. The city and its environs were one of a handful of places the traveler visited with the express purpose of observing the life there.
Following the first volume, which is devoted to Istanbul, Bursa appears in the second book of the ten-volume travel book penned by Evliya Çelebi, who toured the Ottoman realm and other lands for more than forty years.

The study, a comprehensive album about Bursa, treasure trove of Ottoman culture, presents the reader with a city that produced monuments and was an inspiration to everyone from architects and scholars to artists and travelers. The album was compiled from a photograph album created at the behest of Sultan Abdulhamid II.