| The Ottoman Empire and Bursa |
| Turkey |
| Rome had already fallen in the 5th century to Germanic and Gothic tribes. But the powerful Byzantine Empire, Rome's eastern half, lived on with its capital at Constantinople. Centuries later, as the Byzantine Empire declined, a new Moslem power arose, with its first capital in Bursa. These were the Turks, whose Ottoman Empire set it sights upon capturing Byzantine territory and ultimately conquering Constantinople itself. Meanwhile, the Ottomans built Bursa's Great Mosque in 1399, with the interior shown above. |
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| This is Bursa's Green Mosque, completed in 1424 under direction of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet I. It is Bursa's most famous monument. Mehmet I tightened the noose around Constantinople, but he did not capture it. |
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| This is Sultan Mehmet I's Tomb in Bursa, known as the Green Tomb. Constantinople outlived Mehmet I, but its time was running out. It would be two Sultans later before the Byzantine Empire finally fell to the Ottoman Turks. |
| If you have a high speed internet connection, watch the Intrepid Berkeley Explorer's free video of this trip, "What the Sultan Saw", by clicking on AdventurePics.com . |
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