Tirilye
Tirilye (officially Zeytinbağı) is a former Greek fishing village on the southern shore of the Sea of Marmara, near Mudanya, known for its dense cluster of well-preserved 19th-century Greek houses stacked along narrow lanes down to a small harbor. Olive groves surround the town — its old name means "olive bay" — and the local economy still leans heavily on olive oil production alongside fishing. Several Byzantine-era churches survive here, a reminder that this stretch of Marmara coast was a significant Byzantine and later Ottoman-Greek community before the 1923 population exchange.
Tirilye's appeal is its atmosphere rather than any single monument: wandering the old harbor quarter, its wooden balconies and courtyard gates, and stopping at a seafront restaurant for fresh fish gives a genuine sense of small-town Marmara life largely untouched by mass tourism. It pairs naturally with Mudanya and Bursa as part of a relaxed day exploring the region's coastal towns.
Tirilye FAQs
It's known for its well-preserved 19th-century Greek harbor houses, olive groves, and several surviving Byzantine-era churches.
Yes, Zeytinbağı is the town's official Turkish name, while Tirilye is the older name still commonly used.
It's about 45 minutes to an hour from central Bursa by car, and often visited alongside nearby Mudanya.
Access varies and they are not generally open for regular tourist visits, but their exteriors are worth seeing as part of a walk through the old quarter.
Yes, its harbor has a handful of fish restaurants making use of the town's fishing tradition.
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