Kaplıkaya within the Scope of Bursa Silk Road

Kaplıkaya within the Scope of Bursa Silk Road Project


The Historical Silk Road that had served as trading bridge between Asia and Europe, had hosted for carrying and transferring thousands of goods of which silk, spice, and paper had been the primary products. Silk trade had dominated exchange of goods in a great manner and had given its name to the ‘Route’. Goods that had had commercial values and in exchange vary from gun powder, ink, and cinnamon to wild horses and good scents, from china and porcelain to glass and valuable stones. The Silk Road had been not only a route for trade but also had adapted into a way of exchange of travelers, armies, inventions, religions, and cultures.

Kaplıkaya Recreation Area that rests on foothill of Uludağ, located at the city center of Bursa, Yıldırım district, forms the western end of Silk Road carrying very important historical sites on it like Cumalıkızık, Fidyekızık and Balaban. The main entrance of Kaplıkaya Area is designed on the major route. Kaplıkaya has 300.000 m² area.  The existing flora and fauna, landform, and structural elements in the project area have been preserved while different activities, resting and leisure spaces that are integrated to nature are proposed. Park and recreation uses which quote from past past uses exist together with standing landscape, like horse riding paths and bicycle ways, relaxing niches and water bodies.

The main aim of the project is both to create an urban park of mixed-uses and to maintain existing natural landscape, and to sustain it by repairing if necessary. The flora, new playgrounds, and water bodies (Kaplıkaya creek, dry pond, cascaded pool proposal, fountains, canals) have been processed by an integrated landscape restoration approach. Another major target of the project is to keep up existing rural texture. Besides, a unified attitude is paid attention for scaling, placement of elements, spatial requirements and quality, and in design of soft and hard materials. In considering existing woodlands in the site, beech trees and hornbeams have been proposed. Willows and eastern planes are planted along water bodies, and linden trees, elms and red maples for other areas.