Cumalıkızık, centuries-old Ottoman heritage

Bursa's Cumalıkızık neighborhood, which rose to fame with all the Turkish TV series and films shot there, awaits the end of the coronavirus pandemic to go back to its old days
Cumalıkızık carries the traces of the Ottoman Empire to this day, with 700-year-old Ottoman civilian architecture vivid and sturdy to the present day in the northwestern province of Bursa. It perhaps witnessed pandemics and outbreaks, just like today's, throughout its history.
"Bursa and Cumalıkızık: The Birth of the Ottoman Empire," which was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014, consists of six components including the Hanlar Region that covers Orhangazi Complex and its surroundings, Hüdavendigar (I. Murad) Complex, Yıldırım (Bayezid I) Complex, Green (Mehmed I) Külliye, Muradiye (Murad II) Complex and Cumalıkızık.
Cumalıkızık lies within the boundaries of central Yıldırım district of these components and later got the status of a neighborhood, hosting approximately 50,000 people a week during the tourism season, mostly on Saturdays and Sundays.
Founded as a "foundation village" in the early Ottoman period, Cumalıkızık provided income for the construction of the complexes and the first capital. It is among the best examples of the Ottoman lifestyle with its traditional stone paved street texture, houses built with wood and adobe and monumental structures.
In the neighborhood that has gained popularity thanks to the TV series and movies shot there in recent years 270 historical houses, walkways, a museum, some 60 food and drinking venues and nearly 150 gift stalls, most of which are run by women, are now closed because of the epidemic.
The residents of the neighborhood, who are not used to this level of silence in Cumalıkızık, are counting down the...