How to Read Early Ottoman Architecture in Bursa

Ottoman architecture brings the great domes of İstanbul to mind, yet the language was formed in Bursa. Buildings from the late 14th to the mid 15th century stand here in sequence, and walking between them you can follow how the style matured.

The starting point is the Ulu Mosque of 1399. The idea of a single great dome has not yet arrived; twenty separate domes rest on twelve piers and the space is divided by columns. The fountain at the centre and the open dome above it are traces of an enclosed courtyard scheme. The mosque is still inside the old multi pier plan, but the scale has grown.

Move on twenty two years to 1421 and the Green Mosque. The plan has changed to an inverted T; the side spaces are separated from the main hall and the mihrab axis is emphasised. The real difference is in the decoration. The interior is tiled throughout and the mihrab wall gilded. These tiles are not İznik work but that of masters from Tabriz, so early Ottoman architecture has not yet founded its own tile tradition and is importing craftsmen.

The Green Tomb opposite belongs to the same years, its exterior clad in turquoise tile. Covering the outside of a building entirely in tile is not common in Anatolia; the choice descends from Seljuk practice.

The last stop is the Muradiye complex. The twelve tombs in its garden belong to different dates, which turns them into a timeline. In the earlier ones tile is dense and colourful; in the later ones a plainness sets in, and the restraint that announces the classical period is born here.

How to walk it: all four fit into one day, but keep the order, because without the chronology the differences do not show. The Ulu Mosque and Koza Han adjoin each other, the Green pair lie two kilometres east and Muradiye to the west. Mosque visits are restricted at prayer times, so between morning and mid afternoon is easiest.