All who heard about it flocked there, seeking a balm for their pain. Echoing down the centuries I could hear the voice of that celebrated 17th-century Ottoman traveller, Evliya Çelebi, who said of Bursa : "In sum, it is a city consisting of water!" The Persians, Byzantines and Seljuks also inhabited these lands. Churches were built, followed by mosques. Each left their legacy and departed. Continuing my tour of Bursa, I came upon Osman I in his flowing caftan that fell almost to the ground. A living legend with his haughty demeanor, thick brows and beard, envisioning how the principality he founded would one day become a great empire. Nor was he mistaken. In another corner Çelebi Mehmet is talking to an architect. "Build a complex whose mosques will illumine the soul, whose colleges will light the future, whose baths will purify the body!" He departed from this world without seeing the Green Mosque Complex of which he spoke in its finished state. But his legacy has remained as a beacon to all. I stopped by the Esnaf Çarsisi or Artisans' Market as well, which rang with the sound of blacksmiths' hammers. In another shop was the silk merchant, sitting behind the counter, producing the legendary Bursa silks. Just look at