The Nilufer or Niloufer River () is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

Bursa Province Bursa Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in Turkey along the Sea of Marmara coast in northwestern Anatolia. It borders Balıkesir Province, Balıkesir to the west, K ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. From its source near Mount Uludağ (the classical

Mysian Olympus Mysians (; , ''Mysoí'') were the inhabitants of Mysia, a region in northwestern Asia Minor. Origins according to ancient authors Their first mention is by Homer, in his list of Trojans allies in the Iliad, and according to whom the Mysians fou ...

) and flowing past the city of

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

, the river tends to the northwest along its course of . In Turkish, ''nilüfer'' means "

water lily Water lily or water lilies may refer to: Plants * Members of the family Nymphaeaceae Nymphaeaceae () is a family of flowering plants, commonly called water lilies. They live as rhizomatous aquatic herbs in temperate climate, temperate ...

." The river may have been named for the flowers or for Nilüfer Hatun, a wife of the

Ottoman sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

Orhan Orhan Ghazi (; , also spelled Orkhan; died 1362) was the second sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1323/4 to 1362. He was born in Söğüt, as the son of Osman I. In the early stages of his reign, Orhan focused his energies on conquering mos ...

. The district of Nilüfer in

is named after the river. Today, the

Doğancı-1 Dam Doğancı-1 Dam is a dam in Bursa, Turkey. The development was backed by the Turkish State Hydraulic Works. Dam construction was begun in 1977, and was finished in 1983, and the dam is still in use. See also *List of dams and reservoirs in Turke ...

crosses it. Writing in the 19th century, John Cramer considered the Nilufer to be the classical Odrysses though noted there were some problems with this. (). C. Foss, in compiling Map 52 for the Barrington Atlas, silently rejects this identification, preferring the modern Kara Dere (Karacay; a left tributary of the

Simav_River The Simav () or Susurluk RiverTurkish General Directorate of State Water Works (DSİ)." Archive accessed 3 Sept. 2011. (''Susurluk Çayı'') is a river in Anatolian Turkey. Its course is 321 km long and its basin comprises 22,400 km2. It was the c ...

). Its plain was known as Mygdonia and formed the Persian satrapy of

Dascylium Dascylium, Dascyleium, or Daskyleion (), also known as Dascylus, was a town in Anatolia some inland from the coast of the Propontis, at modern Ergili, Turkey. Its site was rediscovered in 1952 and has since been excavated. History Excavatio ...

. Hazlitt, Wm. ''The Classical Gazetteer: A Dictionary of Ancient Geography, Sacred and Profane.'' "." Whittaker & Co. (London), 1851. Accessed 4 Sept 2011. It formerly flowed into the Rhyndacus but now joins the Simav (ancient

Macestos The Simav () or Susurluk RiverTurkish General Directorate of State Water Works (DSİ)." Archive accessed 3 Sept. 2011. (''Susurluk Çayı'') is a river in Anatolian Turkey. Its course is 321 km long and its basin comprises 22,400 km2. It was the c ...

) north of

Karacabey Karacabey is a municipality and district of Bursa Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,158 km2, and its population is 84,907 (2022). It is located just west of the Simav River near its confluence with the Adirnaz River. The district of Karacabe ...

References

Rivers of Turkey Landforms of Bursa Province {{Turkey-river-stub