Tomb of Sultan Orhan Gazi in Tophane Park in Bursa
The hill behind the city of Bursa is packed with historical locations. In a practice which is not unique to Turkish culture, the deceased royals would be buried at a prominent location. The hill, specifically Tophane Park, is the resting place of the founders of the Ottoman Empire. I was surprised to find out that it wasn’t Istanbul which is the birthplace of the Ottoman Empire. Istanbul, then known as Constantinople, still needed to be captured by Mehmet the Conqueror. So you can really say that there is a lot of history here in the city that it was enough for it to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Inside the Mausoleum of Sultan Orhan Gazi in Tophane Park in Bursa
There are two major mausoleums here in Tophane Park – Ozman and Orhan Gazi. Orhan Gazi is the second sultan of the Ottoman Empire and I ended up visiting his tomb first. I expecting there to be a dedicated tomb for Orhan Gazi but there were several other sarcophagi here. Of course, they made sure to make Orhan Gazi’s sarcophagus bigger to make it obvious who is laid to rest there. The empire was only recently founded and it was still in the process of being expanded but by the end of his reign, the Ottoman empire had increased in size substantially.
[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/TophanePark.kmz} zoom=19]