Alteration of the Thermal Hotels in Cekirge District: From the End of the 19th to the 21st Century

The aim of the study is to reveal the past and present situations of the historic thermal hotels in cekirge District in Bursa, Turkey. Concurrently, the study aims to highlight the extent of alterations of these thermal hotels, which were conserved, transformed or on the verge of extinction approximately in one century. With this purpose, the historical background and development process of cekirge Thermal District has been briefly reviewed in order to shed light to the importance of the cultural heritage of Bursa. On the other hand, the historical development processes of the thermal hotels have been examined from the end of the 19(th) century to the beginning of the 21(st) century. Within this context, the advantages and disadvantages of these alterations have been evaluated in fostering the cultural, historical and thermal tourism in cekirge District in Bursa. Consequently, the growing directions of the thermal tourism have been revealed, the importance of the historic thermal hotels for the cultural tourism and cultural heritage were identified and a full overview about the relation of historical growing in the cekirge District has been generated.