Karagöz Museum

The Karagöz Museum near the bazaar quarter celebrates the Turkish shadow puppet tradition, which is said to have originated in Bursa in the 14th century. The museum holds a collection of antique Karagöz puppets made from painted camel hide, theatrical sets and accessories, and historical documents tracing the development of the art form across the Ottoman Empire.

Karagöz shadow theatre — in which the irreverent lower-class Karagöz outwits the pompous, educated Hacivat — was the popular entertainment of the Ottoman world for five centuries. The stories are full of wordplay and social satire. The museum organises occasional live performances; check at the entrance for the schedule. The small gift shop sells reproduction puppets made by local craftspeople.

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A story
The story of Karagöz — the sharp-tongued, anarchic shadow puppet whose name means "black eye" — is said to have originated in 14th-century Bursa. According to tradition, Karagöz and Hacivat were construction workers on the Grand Mosque who were so entertaining that the other workers stopped to watch them, delaying the building. Sultan Orhan had them executed, then felt such remorse that he commissioned a shadow puppeteer to recreate their antics. The story is probably legend, but Bursa has claimed the tradition ever since.

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