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Sögüt (sur-EWT),
near Bursa to
the south of Turkey's Sea
of Marmara, was the birthplace
of the Ottoman
Empire. The founding
Ottoman is buried here.
That would be Ertugrul
Gazi (died 1288), the
warrior chieftain who fought on
the border of the Seljuk
Turkish and Byzantine empires,
and whose sons went on to form
the Ottoman state.
Apart from his
tomb, there's not much else
to see in Sögüt (sur-EWT)
except pretty rolling hills. If you
have an intense interest in early
Ottoman history and you're driving
between Bursa and Eskisehir,
stop and pay your respects to The
Founder and have a glass
of tea.
Ertugrul (EHR-too-rool)
established a small principality
with Sögüt as its capital,
but his sons Osman and Orhan moved
on to conquer the Byzantine towns
of Nicaea (Iznik)
and Broussa (Bursa),
and made Bursa the capital of their
burgeoning empire. (Osman and Orhan
are buried in elaborate tombs in Bursa).
By 1452,
just over a century and a half after
Ertugrul Gazi's death, the Ottomans
controlled most of Anatolia,
much of eastern Europe, and major
parts of the Middle East.
In 1453 they
captured Constantinople (Istanbul),
setting the stage for the Ottoman
Empire's golden age.
Distances & Travel
Times
Ankara: 289
km (180 miles) E, 4 hours
Bilecik: 34 km (21
miles) NW, 40 minutes
Bursa: 124
km (77 miles) W, 2 hours
Eskisehir: 56
km (35 miles) SE, 50 minutes
Istanbul: fast
ferry via Yalova then a 132-km (82-mile)
drive SE; or 284 km (176 miles) by
road via Kocaeli (Izmit) and Sakarya
(Adapazari).
Iznik: 72
km (45
miles) NW, 1.5 hours
Yalova: 132
km (82 miles) NW, 2.5 hours
Sea
of Marmara Region
Maps
of Thrace & Marmara Region
Where
to Go
Turkey
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