The First Capital City of the Ottoman Empire
When the conquest of Anatolia by the Seljuks began in 1071, the Turkish tribes coming from Central Asia settled down on their new lands. Then the Seljuk Empire started to weaken and furthermore fell apart in the thirteenth century. Many small Turkish principalities sprang up, one of which was the Ottoman Beylik in the northwest of Anatolia. Ottomans expanded quickly as they conquered additional lands from the Byzantine Empire.
Osman Bey, the founder of the Ottoman Beylik, who was born in the town of Söğüt in Bithynia in 1258, conquered Bilecik, Yenikent, İnegöl and İznik in 1299 which is the year considered being the founding of the Ottoman Empire, which was to survive for over six hundred years. As Osman Gazi gained in strength, the Byzantine governor of Bursa, Atranos, sought assistance from the governors of Kestel and Kite. Their united army joined the battle against Ottomans at Koyunhisar in 1301. Ottomans were victorious.
Osman Bey resolved to take Bursa, and began preparations to besiege the city in 1317. First he had to cut off the city’s access to the sea, he then built a fort near Kaplıca and appointed his nephew Ak Timur as its commander. His slave, Balabancık, was given the command of a second fort in the mountains behind Bursa, to prevent them from reaching the city from both sides. Turks demolished the fort of Atranos Beyce and made their encampment at Pınarbaşı. Leaving the army’s control in the hands of his son Orhan Bey, Osman Gazi returned to Yenikent.
Daily Bursa Tour From Istanbul
We will start our from istanbul with your pick up from hotel and drive to Bursa for 3 hours. We will visit the old city of Bursa, Ulu Mosque, Bazaar and Tomb. We will pass to cable car station to go up to one of the highest mountains in Turkey. After we visit the mountain Uludag, we will start our journey back to Istanbul.
We will end our tour with your drop off to your hotel. You will have a amazind day with our private car and driver service in the old capital of Ottoman Empire.
