Village in famous Turkish novel to open tourism

BURSA - Anadolu Agency

Yıldırım Mayor Özgen Keskin says they will also open a paragliding field besides the Çalıkuşu House to draw tour. AA Photo

Feride, the main character of one of the masterpieces of Turkish literature, famous novel “Çalıkuşu,” written by Reşat Nuri Güntekin in 1922, was working as a teacher in the northwestern province of Bursa’s Zeyniler village. The village was the source of inspiration for Güntekin in writing the novel.
With a new project to revive the village and bring it in tourism, a house named “Çalıkuşu House” was opened by the Bursa Municipality with a ceremony at the weekend in the village, which is located in the skirts of Uludağ Mountain.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Yıldırım Mayor Özgen Keskin said they would also open a village mansion and a paragliding field to draw tourists to the village.

Traces from the Ottoman era

The village, which is three kilometers away from Merkez Yıldırım district’s Teleferik neighborhood, has traces from the Ottoman era, said Keskin. “Our goal is to bring tourism to this village and our efforts continue. History will be revived in this village one day. While it was a settlement, it did not even have electricity one year ago. But we made this place a neighborhood first and then gave it the status of a village,” he said.

Keskin said the people of Zeyniler were those who immigrated to this village during the Ottoman-Russian War in 1877-1878, adding, “In order to revive this historic village and draw tourism, we have previously organized running events in the mountains and bicycle competitions. We have also made walking routes and viewing terraces.”

He said they had constructed the Çalıkuşu House to keep the memory of the novel alive. “When Güntekin was a teacher in the male high school and an inspector, he came to this village and saw a little girl who was running and jumping around and climbing plum trees. Being inspired by this little girl, he wrote the novel ‘Çalıkuşu.’ This is why we built this house; for the memoir of this novel and this great master,” Keskin explained.

Keskin said the village was in a location available to construct a paragliding field and they did it to improve tourism.

Paraglider Ömer Sarışın said they had tried the field before the opening of the Çalıkuşu House, and continued, “It is a bit slippery because of sand, but when it rains, this problem disappears. But the field should be extended to the west and the trees there should be cut a bit. Other than this, the field is very nice. This is the only field covered with parquet. We go from here to İnegöl, Yenişehir, etc., where the wind takes us. This is the best place around Bursa.”