Not well known to foreign visitors, Merinos is a part of Bursa quite close to the big Kent Meydanı which was once home to a huge textile factory. Now that this is no longer in operation the main building has been converted to house a Textile Museum explaining the history of the industry on the ground floor and an Immigration Museum (Tarihi Göç Müzesi) on the upper floor. There is also an Energy Museum although I haven’t visited it.
The Textile Museum is one of Turkey’s best industrial heritage attractions although appreciation of it is somewhat hampered by low lighting that appears to assume that factory machinery is as delicate as medieval artworks. Labelling is only in Turkish. Turkish-only labelling also limits the accessibility of the Immigration Museum to foreign visitors although it’s an impressive attempt to explain how Bursa became a city with a population of very mixed origins. Photographs, maps and models illustrate the great waves of migration since the mid-19th century that have brought people into Turkey from the Balkans, Greece, Crimea, the Caucasus and even Eastern Turkey. It’s a very timely enterprise.
The museums stand in an extensive park which is also home to Bursa’s fine conference centre.
Transport info
Taxi-dolmuşes to Merinos leave from the rank in front of the Ulu Cami and Koza Han in the centre of Bursa. You can also reach it by tram (Çarşamba-Merinos) although that involves having to find your way across the park and over a busy main road via a bridge.
