The Historical Bursa Town Hall

The town hall of Bursa Municipality was built in 1880 during the governorship of Ahmed Vefik Pasha, under mayor Huseyin Husnu Efendi. It is the oldest town hall in Turkey. Various sources state that Kutahyalı Shehbender was the architect of this building.

This town hall is built at the east of Orhan Mosque situated within Orhan Kulliye complex built in the 14th century, on an area where formerly the Orhan Soup Kitchen was situated, but which remained empty after a fire.

The structure is built using timber and bricks. Its walls are masoned with lathe and plaster. It is an authentic example of the synthesis of traditional and modern architectural features: there are large eaves built in Empire style, as well as brick-built star and cypress motifs around the building’s windows in the western frontage frequently used in civil architecture.

Being one of the structures of Ottoman civil architecture, this building bears the interior features of both a mansion (“konak”) and a waterside mansion (“yali”).

This structure was renovated in 1902 and between 1989 and 1995.