Mount Uludag .. the most famous winter sports resort in Türkiye

ArabiaWeather.com - Ismail Kasemi - Uludag .. With its summit of 2543 meters, it is the highest mountain in northwestern Turkey. There are some reports and photos that say that its summit can be seen from Istanbul 150 kilometers away on very clear days, not always, because of the humidity.

And Mount Uludag has two sides; There is natural beauty where forests, hills and rocks occupied by eagles on the one hand, and on the other hand there is a developed resort used for winter sports.

In the Middle Ages, Uludağ was used as a hermitage for Christian monks, which explains why it was called Keşeş Dağı or “Mountain of the Monks” in Ottoman Turkish. Its ice was also used in the imperial kitchen at Topaki Palace, and the name of the mountain was later changed to Uludağ, which translates as "the great mountain" in 1935 AD.

Uludağ is Turkey's first and most popular winter sports resort, featuring the first guesthouse aimed at ski enthusiasts and opened in the 1940s. The mountain was declared a national park in 1961, but this did not prevent tourism developments.

On the northern side of the mountain, beautiful views of Bursa can be seen, with a number of flat plateaus that rise about 1,600 meters above sea level, such as Sarıalan, Kadi Yayla, and Kirazi Yaya, where the first gate of the park and the cable car station are. As for the southern slopes of the mountain, they are steeper and more difficult to access.

the climate

Just as you might have expected, Uludag is cooler than the neighboring city of Bursa due to its altitude. The season for winter sports, especially skiing, is between October and April, with snow cover and a constant temperature below zero between December and March.

On Bursa's hot summer days it will likely be cool enough to wear a jacket at least outdoors during the day, and certainly at night.