Description
Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar is situated in the heart of the old town. The first market halls were built in 1461 on the site of an old wooden market square and were used exclusively for the wool and silk trade. Gradually, however, the bazaar opened up to other trades and developed into a proper neighbourhood. This gigantic marketplace has eighteen gates, and nearly four thousand shops are crammed along the grid-like layout of arcades, streets and alleys. In the past, specific sections were reserved for each trade, which is no longer so strictly the case today. Nevertheless, carpet dealers, jewellers, leather goods and clothing sellers, for example, are still concentrated in certain sectors of the bazaar. – 1989
Description
Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar is situated in the heart of the old town. The first market halls were built in 1461 on the site of an old wooden market square and were used exclusively for the wool and silk trade. Gradually, however, the bazaar opened up to other trades and developed into a proper neighbourhood. This gigantic marketplace has eighteen gates, and nearly four thousand shops are crammed along the grid-like layout of arcades, streets and alleys. In the past, specific sections were reserved for each trade, which is no longer so strictly the case today. Nevertheless, carpet dealers, jewellers, leather goods and clothing sellers, for example, are still concentrated in certain sectors of the bazaar. – 1989
