Panorama 1326 Bursa Fetih Müzesi

Panorama 1326 Bursa Fetih Museum, located in the Osmangazi district of Bursa, is a full panoramic museum that narrates the founding story of the Ottoman Empire with images.

It is situated in the Kamberler neighborhood, which has been turned into a city park, built on an area of 4,300 square meters. It lies at the eastern end of the Hanlar Region, which begins with Pirinç Han. Opened to visitors in 2018, the museum depicts the bloodless capture of Bursa Castle by the Ottomans on 6 April 1326 within a 360-degree circular loop. With its dome of 42 meters in diameter, it is among the world's largest full panoramic museums.

History

The museum, established under the chief advisory of historian Halil İnalcık, had its foundation laid on 15 September 2015. The building, occupying a base area of 60 meters by 80 meters, was designed by a team led by Nilüfer Akınıctürk and Özgür Ediz and constructed according to the principle of energy efficiency. Inside the museum, in addition to the main theme reenactment hall, there are exhibition halls, meeting rooms, a library, a cafeteria, and administrative sections.

Materials such as marble, stone, and tile were sourced from Bursa. The roof covering of the 42-meter-diameter dome was manufactured from a titanium‑zinc alloy. More than 10,000 human and animal figures are depicted in the museum's paintings. The paintings were created by the artists who made the paintings for the Panorama 1453 History Museum in Istanbul.

The museum opened to visitors on 1 November 2018. Its official inauguration was held on 15 February 2019 by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after the COVID‑19 pandemic. It has attracted great interest since its opening. In its opening year the museum hosted 700,000 visitors, and in August 2023 it welcomed its 2,000,000th visitor.

Architectural features

The museum building is designed as a continuation of the green area (Kamberler Park) immediately south of the site on which it stands. The maintained green area is the outer shell of the Bursa Fetih Museum and is designed as a green roof that will keep the building cool in summer and prevent heat loss in winter. On the gently sloping roof there are solar panels arranged to face south. This area also serves as a city terrace from which historic Bursa and Uludağ can be viewed.

Bursa Fetih Museum, unlike traditional panoramas, is designed to stand in the air rather than sit on the ground. The space created under the sphere is in the form of a forum area and offers opportunities for many activities.

Museum visit plan

At the museum entrance there are 16 paintings that narrate the progress of the Kayı Turks toward Bursa from the 13th century, the conquest of Bursa, the six Ottoman sultans who ruled in Bursa and the social life during their reigns. After this entrance, visitors ascend to the sphere, which is the area where the main visual is located.

The sphere depicts Bursa on 6 April 1326 and emphasizes that after a long siege period the city was taken not by military force but by the path of peace, and that Orhan Bey received the key to Bursa without bloodshed.

Museum units

The museum houses a library containing 4,000 books on topics such as Bursa research, philosophy, literature, religion, culture and art. The museum also includes two conference halls, indoor and outdoor exhibition areas, two cafés, a souvenir shop area, and a multipurpose forum area. There is also a small indoor garden in the museum that contains various plants grown in Bursa.