Cumalıkızık Village-A More Than 600 years old typical Ottoman Village near Bursa
It is
said that the founder of Ottoman Empire founded seven villages for
his seven sons and their brides about seven hundred years ago on
lands just east of Bursa. Five of the villages, built before the
Ottoman conquest of Bursa, survive to this day and retain many
features of Ottoman domestic architecture. According to another
legend the village was called Camili (with a mosque) village
because the other villages around it had no mosque and the people
from the other villages used to come to Cumalıkızık especially
on fridays to pray. In the 1920-22’s in the freedom war when the
greeks were running away they burned down all the kızık villages. Cumalıkızık luckily survived from being
burnt. The
village of Cumalıkızık set on the slopes of Uludağ amidst
fruit and nut orchards, is registered as a national monument and
protected from development. The other four old villages, all south
of the Bursa-Ankara highway are called Hamamlıkızık, not far
from Cumalıkızık, Derekızık, farther east, Fidyekızık and
Değirmenlikızık, closer to Bursa. There is a very old wooden
mosque in the village and a hamam (bath) from Ottoman time. The
houses have usually stone covered courtyards (called hayat) as
well as the streets. The existing pavement style of the stones
minimizes the humidity,resistant to floods and you can see water
floating through the streets of the village almost every season.
The houses have usually two or three floors. The entrance door is
usually big and have two parts. Windows have cages to see the
outer world without being seen from outside. The basement is stone
and then comes the the other floors made of wood. The popular
colors used in the houses are usually yellow, white, blue and
purple.
Since the village is
on the east of the town we have to go 12 km eastward >from
Bursa along the main road to İnegöl and Ankara direction. Then
you must turn right and drive up to the mountain skirt but since
there are many buildings built around the intersection try not to
miss the sign saying Cumalıkızık. It is 3.5 km drive south to
Cumalıkızık...
