Irgandı Bridge

Overview

The Irgandı Bridge carries a bazaar across the Gökdere stream in Bursa. A merchant, Muslihiddin, had it built in 1442, during the reign of Murad II, with rows of shops on both sides of the road. It is the only Ottoman bridge of this kind. Today, its small shops are workshops again, where craftsmen practise calligraphy, ebru (the art of paper marbling) marbling, miniature painting and wood carving.

Quick facts

• Built: 1442, under Murad II
• Where: over the Gökdere, between the Osmangazi and Yıldırım districts
• Today: a working bridge with craft workshops and shops

A Bazaar Built on a Bridge

The architect, Timurtaş, set the road on a single stone arch. In addition, above it, two rows of shops faced each other across the street. When the traveler Evliya Çelebi came, he counted 32, sixteen on each side, and one shop at the north-east end served as a small mosque. On either side of the arch, below the road, were stables and storerooms. The shop roofs were first covered in lead, and tiles replaced it after the 17th century. Moreover, at night, iron gates closed both ends of the bazaar.

Floods, Ruin and Rebuilding

A flood in the 18th century brought part of the bridge down, and the earthquake of 1855 damaged it again. By the later 19th century, the bridge was an open bazaar of small wooden shops, each one like a little house. Finally, in 1922, the bridge was destroyed. A concrete bridge with no shops replaced it in 1949, 60 centimeters higher than the old one. Work to bring the bazaar back began in 1988, and in 2004 the bridge was rebuilt to its 19th-century look.

What to See on the Irgandı Bridge

The workshops today

The shops on the bridge now hold workshops for the traditional arts of the city. Calligraphers, ebru artists, miniature painters, potters and wood carvers work at their benches, and many sell what they make. Ebru is the art of floating colors on water and lifting the pattern onto paper; our guide to Turkish marbling explains how it works.

Visiting the Irgandı Bridge

The bridge is off Atatürk Caddesi in the center of Bursa, and cars still cross it. Besides, walking across is free. However, the workshops keep their own hours, and their opening times are not printed on any official page.

Updated: November 1, 2026.

Our suggestion

Come across from the Koza Han after the silk shops, and stop on the bridge long enough to watch one craft from start to finish. At an ebru bench, you see the colors float on the water and the pattern lifted onto paper.

Seeing the Irgandı Bridge with Us

Our Bursa day trip walks from the Grand Mosque and the Koza Han to the bridge before an İskender lunch. Tell us which craft you would like to try, and we will plan time at a workshop on the bridge. For other full days out, see our one-day tours.