Historic business center revives fading professions in Bursa

BURSA

The historic Ahşap Han in the northwestern province of Bursa’s Osmangazi district, a unique business center known for its distinctive architecture, hosts 25 businesses dedicated to preserving professions that are fading into obscurity.

Constructed under the Ottoman Empire in the early 1900s and rebuilt due to safety concerns in the 1960s, the historic center carries traces of the past into the present.

Together with reflecting the Ottoman era's commercial life, this long-standing center promotes the surviving traditional handicrafts as well as the nearly extinct vocations of saddlery and "naht," a type of art involving the carving of wood.

The center also gets its name from its entirely wooden structure as “ahşap” means “wood” in English.

“Operating as a hotel previously, the building is now a business facility,” explained Hasan Basri Karnabat, one of the tradespeople at the center. “There are six to seven more centers like this one around. Some are still in use, while others have been demolished.”

Providing a nostalgic atmosphere, the center has grown in popularity over time as a destination for both domestic and international tourists eager to capture photographs inside this unique building, one of the few remaining of its kind.

Hüseyin Kabacalı, one of the business owners at the center, opted to dedicate his post-retirement era to dealing with the vocation of "naht."

Another business owner, 56-year-old Cevdet Coşkuner, has been carrying on the legacy of saddlery he inherited from his father since he was 10 years old.

“We are now producing knife or pocketknife sheaths as the demand for halters has decreased. To put it another way, we're attempting to keep up with the age,” he said.

Noting that his children did not follow in his footsteps, Coşkuner stated that this vocation of saddlery is likely to end with his retirement.