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The excellent Bursa City Museum (Bursa Kent Müzesi) gives an insight on the history of and life in the city of Bursa, Turkey. It’s located in the historic city center along Atatürk Avenue.
Building
The museum building was originally built in 1926 by Turkish architect Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi. It functioned as the Bursa Courthouse (Bursa Adliyesi) for 75 years. The Bursa City Museum opened on February 14, 2004.
The former courthouse sits directly across from the Bursa Tax Administration building (Bursa Vergi Dairesi Başkanlığı), which was designed by the same architect.
Visiting
The Bursa City Museum is open daily except Mondays. Admission is free (as of February 2024). Unfortunately for non-Turkish speakers, all displays are in Turkish. The museum is spread out over three floors.
City of Civilizations
The best place to start is on the ground floor, where there are two galleries. The first gallery is titled Bursa: City of Civilizations (Uygarlıklar Kenti Bursa). It chronicles the history of the city from ancient times through Ottoman conquest and Turkish independence. It starts with a section on ancient history, with its beginnings as Prusa, and information about its Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine past.
The exhibit contains thorough information about the Ottoman sultans who contributed greatly to Bursa, especially with their mosque complexes. In all, six Ottoman sultans are profiled.
The last sections include information about migration to the city as well as the liberation of Bursa from Greek forces on September 11, 1922, during the Turkish War of Independence. There are plenty of photographs and artifacts on display.
Contemporary Bursa
The second gallery on the ground floor is titled Contemporary Bursa (Çağdaş Bursa). It describes the phases of development the city has gone through since the Republican period. There are displays on the city’s government, demographics, transportation, architecture, and even a model of the city.
Bursa with Life and Culture
On the first floor is the exhibit titled Bursa with Life and Culture (Yaşam ve Kültürüyle Bursa). It displays the traditions and customs of the city, including some that have been forgotten. Traditional clothing and items used in everyday life are featured.
Some of the topics in the exhibit are hamam culture, the Karagöz and Hacivat shadow puppets, sports, and Bursa’s ski culture.
Producing Bursa
The basement has three sections. The first is Producing Bursa (Üreten Bursa), which is in the main hall. It exhibits some of the items manufactured and produced in the city, including cola, cars, and equipment.
Handicraft Bazaar
The Handicraft Bazaar (El Sanatları Çarşısı) recreates traditional shops once found in Bursa, such as a fabric shop, blacksmith, cobbler, knife maker, and more.
A candy shop as well as a mannequin representing İskender Efendi, the inventor of the famous İskender kebab, are at the end of the exhibit.
Silk City Bursa
The final section in the basement focuses on Bursa’s history of silk production. Silk City Bursa (İpek Kenti Bursa) includes interpretive panels about the silk production process as well as historic local products made of silk. I was especially interested in the products with Greek names on them, which show the multicultural past of the city.
