Inside the Sultan Emir Türbesi (mausoleum). The architecture – an octagonal room under a dome – is of Classical Ottoman inspiration, but the decoration (murals, marbles, windows) displays a pure late-Ottoman ‘Ampir’ style (= influenced by the ‘Nouvel Empire’, the French Neo-Classical style under Napoleon III).

The large cenotaph sarcophagus of Emir Sultan (1349 or 1366-1429) in the center of the room is covered with velvet, embroidered in gold thread, and is surrounded by a grid, very much like the royal sarcophagi of Osman I, Orhan and Murat I, whose restorations date from the same period. Such honour can be explained by Sultan Emir’s descent from the Prophet (Mohamed), which turned his resting place into an important pilgrimage site in Turkey.
Four smaller sarcophagi surround the large catafalque: those of his wife Hundi Fatma Hatun (a daughter of sultan Yıldırım Beyazıt), his son Emir Ali Çelebi and two of his daughters.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Sources: ‘Vakıf Abideler ve eski Eserler III’ - Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü, Ankara 1983
‘Bursa - Turquie’ – booklet of the Bursa Müzeleri, 1980 & Website of ‘lifeinbursa.com’.