The story of Uludağ

The peak most people point to as Uludağ's summit is not the summit at all. That tall hill seen from the hotel area is Keşiş Tepe, 2,486 m; the true top, Uludağ Tepe at 2,543 m, lies 5 km to its southeast in the lakes region.

The highest mountain of the Marmara Region stretches 40 km. Herodotus called it Olympos, and after Christianity became Rome's official religion, monks founded monasteries here; 28 were built in the valleys and hills between the Nilüfer and Deliçay streams.

After the conquest of Bursa, the Turks named it Keşiş Dağı, the Monk's Mountain, and in 1925 it became Uludağ on Osman Şevki Bey's proposal. A hotel and road arrived in 1933, and Turkey's first cable car opened in 1963. On a clear day, look out from the top toward Istanbul and the Sea of Marmara.