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The 12 tombs at the Muradiye Complex in Bursa, Turkey, are the final resting place of 40 members of the Ottoman dynasty. They’re included in the UNESCO World Heritage listing for Bursa. This entry includes the first three tombs.
The tombs sit in a quiet and peaceful section of the complex, behind the mosque and madrasa. They were built between the late 15th to late 16th centuries and include two open-air tombs for non-members of the dynasty. The tombs are surrounded by tall trees and connected by a path.
On my first two visits to Bursa, only two of the tombs were open to the public. The rest were restored between 2012 and 2015, and I was excited to see the results on my latest visit to the city in October 2019.
Visiting
There’s no admission to visit the tombs, and the map at the entrance provides a suggested path to see them. Inside the tombs are booklets with before and after photos of the restoration.
Walking down the path from the entrance, the first tomb encountered sits to the left and is actually #12. It should be bypassed until the end. The first tomb on the suggested path is just past it to the right and belongs to Sultan Murad II.
Tomb of Murad II
The largest and most important tomb in the Muradiye Complex is the tomb of Sultan Murad II (II. Murad Türbesi). Sources conflict the date of its construction. It was either built before his death in 1451, or by his son Mehmed the Conqueror in 1481. The eaves covering the entrance are stunningly decorated with fine woodwork.
The interior of the tomb is very simple. It was built according to the last will of Murad II, which called for a square structure open to the sky to allow rain to fall on his grave, and a gallery to allow students to memorize the Quran. Murad II, who died in Edirne, was brought to Bursa and buried directly in the ground without being placed in a sarcophagus.
The columns supporting the roof contain Byzantine pedestals and capitals recycled from other buildings. The flower motifs on the mihrab, above the windows, and along the walls date back to the 16th century. They were plastered over in the 19th century and rediscovered during restoration in 2013.
Murad II
Murad II (b. 1404, Amasya – d. 1451, Edirne) was the 6th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (r. 1421-1444, 1446-1451). His reign was marked by 25 years of conflict against Christian feudal lords in the Balkans and Turkish beyliks in Anatolia. He unsuccessfully laid siege to Constantinople in 1421, and declared war on Venice, Serbia, Hungary, and the Karamanids. Murad II defeated the Karamanids in 1428, conquered Thessaloniki from the Venetians in 1430 after an eight year siege, and annexed Serbia in 1439. He also removed opposition to Ottoman expansion in Europe by defeating John Hunyadi (1406-1456) at the Battle of Varna on November 10, 1444.
Murad II abdicated the throne in favor of his 12 year old son, Mehmed II (Mehmed the Conqueror), but he was forced to return two years later after a Janissary revolt. In 1450, during his second reign, he led his army into Albania to put down a rebellion by Skënderbej (1405-1468) and was defeated at Krujë. Murad II saw himself as a simple soldier who did not partake in royal excess. This gained him respect from all over the Muslim world.
Tomb of Şehzade Alaaddin
An annex connected to the east wall of the tomb of Murad II contains four burials. They include his sons, Şehzade Alaaddin (1425-1443) and Şehzade Ahmed (1419-1437), and his daughters, Şehzade Hatun and Hatice Hatun.
Murad II was devastated by the death of Şehzade Alaaddin and wanted to be buried near him. Access to the annex was created by a window being rebuilt as a door.
Tomb of Şehzade Mustafa
Next is the tomb of Şehzade Mustafa (Şehzade Mustafa Türbesi), which sits a bit behind the tomb of Murad II and to the right. It was built in 1573 by Sultan Selim II for his brother Şehzade Mustafa (1515-1553), who was originally buried in a different tomb in Bursa. The architect of the tomb was Mehmed Çavuş.
The tomb is decorated with beautiful 16th century Iznik tiles and hand-drawn floral patterns. The patterns were plastered over in the 19th century and rediscovered during restoration in 2013. Marble tiles were recycled from the Byzantine palace in Bursa. There’s no mihrab.
There are four sarcophagi in the tomb. Burials other than Şehzade Mustafa include his mother, Mahidevran (1500-1581), and Şehzade Osman (d. 1512), the son of a Şehzade Bayezid (I’m not sure which one). The occupant of the fourth sarcophagus is unknown.
Şehzade Mustafa
Şehzade Mustafa was the eldest son of Süleyman the Magnificent and was immensely popular. He was the heir apparent to the Ottoman throne, although he had a fractured relationship with his father, mostly due to a rivalry between his mother, Mahidevran, and Süleyman’s legal wife, Hürrem Sultan (1502-1558).
In 1549, Grand Vizier Rüstem Pasha (c. 1505-1561) formed an alliance with Hürrem Sultan in favor of her sons Selim and Bayezid. Later, in 1553, Rüstem Pasha warned Süleyman that Mustafa was trying to kill him. Although there was no evidence, Süleyman ordered the execution of Mustafa by strangulation. He was murdered on October 6, 1553, after entering his father’s field tent in Konya.
In response to his death, Mustafa’s soldiers and the Janissaries rebelled against Süleyman. The people, who saw Mustafa as their next Sultan, blamed Rüstem Pasha, Hürrem Sultan, and Süleyman for the unfair execution. Şehzade Mustafa spent a week lying in state at Hagia Sophia before being transferred to his first tomb in Bursa. In the aftermath, Rüstem Pasha was dismissed from his post as Grand Vizier.
Tomb of Cem Sultan
The third tomb in the Muradiye Complex belongs to Cem Sultan (1459-1495). It was originally built in 1479 for Şehzade Mustafa (1450-1474), a son of Mehmed the Conqueror who died near Niğde. His other son, Cem Sultan, was buried there in 1499, and the tomb took his name.
The tomb of Cem Sultan (Cem Sultan Türbesi) is the most richly decorated tomb in the complex. The walls are covered with turquoise and dark blue Iznik tiles for the first 2.35 meters. The rest of the walls and the dome are decorated with beautiful 16th century hand-drawn motifs. Like the other tombs, they were plastered over in the 19th century and rediscovered during restoration in 2013.
There are four marble sarcophagi in the tomb. They belong to the aforementioned Cem Sultan and Şehzade Mustafa as well as Şehzade Abdullah (d. 1485) and Şehzade Alemşah (d. 1503). The latter two were sons of Sultan Bayezid II.
Cem Sultan
Cem Sultan was the third son of Mehmed the Conqueror. In 1481, he lost the battle to his older half-brother, Bayezid II, to take the Ottoman throne. Cem Sultan fled first to Cairo, where he was protected by the Mamluk Sultanate, and a year later to Rhodes, where he was protected by the Knights Hospitaller. A few months later, he was betrayed and sent to France, where he spent six years and was used as a political hostage.
In 1489, Cem Sultan arrived in Rome, where Pope Innocent VIII unsuccessfully tried to convert him to Christianity and use him to launch a new crusade against the Ottomans. His presence in Rome was a problem for Bayezid II, as the Pope threatened to release him every time the Sultan intended to attack Christian nations in the Balkans. In order for the Pope to maintain custody of his brother, Bayezid II paid a ransom to the Vatican equal to all annual sources of papal revenue combined. This ransom financed much of the work on the Sistine Chapel.
Cem Sultan died in Capua, near Naples, on February 24, 1495. Sultan Bayezid II declared three days of mourning and requested to have his body returned to the Ottoman Empire for burial. The body was finally repatriated in 1499 after the Pope held out for four more years in an attempt to receive more payments of gold.
