Broussa, BRUSA, or BOURSA, the ancient Prusa, where the kings of Bithynia usually resided, situated in Asiatic Turkey, at the foot of Mount
Olympus, in Asia Minor, 13 miles S. of the Sea of Marmora. Broussa is pleasantly situated, facing a beautiful and luxuriant plain. The water-supply is good, and water flows down the centre of some of the streets, which are clean, but for the most part narrow and dark, and the bazaars very good. It contains about 200 mosques, some of which are very fine buildings, also three Greek churches, an Armenian and several synagogues. The old citadel stands on a rock in the centre of the town. Both Greeks and Armenians have an archbishop here. The silks of Broussa are much esteemed, but the production of the silk-factories, many of which are in the hands of Europeans, has fallen off. Wine is largely produced by the Greeks, and fruit is exported; carpets and tapestry are also made. As capital of a vilayet (often called Khodavendighiar), Broussa is the official residence of a Turkish pasha, and the seat of a Turkish tribunal. Broussa is subject to frequent earthquakes. In ancient times it was famous for its thermal baths, which are still much esteemed; they are sulphurous, and spring out of the flank of Mount Olympus. During the terrible earthquakes of 1855, they ceased for a time to flow, but soon returned with a fuller current than before. Meerschaum clay is also obtained from a hill in the vicinity. Prusa is said to have been built by Prusias, king of Bithynia. It was plundered by the Saracens in 950, but retaken and fortified. The sultan Othman besieged it in 1317; and in 1327 his son Orkhan, the second emperor of Turkey, captured it, and made it the capital of his empire, and it continued so until the taking of Constantinople by Mohammed II. in 1453. The first six sultans of the Ottoman empire are buried here. Ibrahim Pasha occupied the city in 1833; Abd-el-Kader found refuge here from 1852-55. The population of Broussa amounts to about 37,000 souls, of whom 5000 are Greeks.