A Cultural Route Proposal for Early Republican Architectural Heritage of Bursa

Bursa, the first capital city of Ottoman Empire, became a silk trade center and a gate between Anatolia and Europe. Bursa inscribed into the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014 with its significant monuments; Sultan Complexes (külliye), Khans Area (commercial center) and Cumalıkızık Village that represents the creation of an urban and rural development system of Ottoman Period in the early 14th century. Both in 19th century and after Turkish Republic was founded in 1923, Bursa was one of the first modernized and industrialized cities of Turkey. Industrial buildings such as a weaving factory, a silk factory, a textile machine factory, a power plant and transformers; public buildings such as banks, cultural center, theater, school, court house, finance office and a city park were built in first decades of Republic. All these functions and buildings are representatives and witness of a modern architecture and lifestyle. At present, Bursa is very famous with its World Heritage sites but local people and especially tourists are not aware of modern architectural heritage enough. Although some of these buildings are protected and reused, some of them were demolished. This paper aims to promote the modern architectural buildings in Bursa and raise public awareness. For this purpose, a cultural route is recommended as a contribution to cultural tourism integrated with World Heritage Sites in Bursa.

کلیدواژه ها:

Industrial heritage ، modern heritage ، conservation ، cultural route ، cultural tourism ، Bursa