Grand Bazaar-Kapali Carsi
https://travelfood4all.blogspot.com/2014/07/grand-bazaar-kapali-carsi.html
Even the labyrinthine and chaotic atmosphere, the most can't help being fascinated by the Grand Bazaar's inimitable magic. This age old Disneyland of shopping malls has developed over centuries into a genuine brand of Turkishness which is absent from the glimmiring streets of Nisantasi and Caddebostan.
Opened in 1461, Sultan Mehmed II initially commissioned two small warehouses as a way to fund the transformation of Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Shops began to grow up around these Bedestans and, as commerce increased, shopkeepers began to build roofs over the lanes to withstand poor weather conditions and further attract customers.
Up until recently the Grand Bazaar was home to 5 mosques, 1 school, 7 fountains, 10 wells, 1 water dispenser and 1 ablution fountain. Today only 1 mosque and 1 ablution fountain are left. For centuries the Grand Bazaar was the most important centre of commerce, handicraft and finance in the Mediterranean and Near East.
Today, many may refer to the Grand Bazaar as a tourist trap, one could İstanbul for shopping alone, this is the logical place that you start from here first. Because there is so much to see—even if one is just window-shopping You can find easily a wide and incomparable selection of artisan and often locally produced carpets, jewelry of every possible provenance and material, leather goods, trinkets, antique weapons, and fabrics . The Old Bedesten, in the heart of the bazaar, offers a curious assortment of antiques, so that bazaar is the original and unique shopping mall with something to suit every taste and pocket.
Opened in 1461, Sultan Mehmed II initially commissioned two small warehouses as a way to fund the transformation of Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Shops began to grow up around these Bedestans and, as commerce increased, shopkeepers began to build roofs over the lanes to withstand poor weather conditions and further attract customers.
Up until recently the Grand Bazaar was home to 5 mosques, 1 school, 7 fountains, 10 wells, 1 water dispenser and 1 ablution fountain. Today only 1 mosque and 1 ablution fountain are left. For centuries the Grand Bazaar was the most important centre of commerce, handicraft and finance in the Mediterranean and Near East.
Today, many may refer to the Grand Bazaar as a tourist trap, one could İstanbul for shopping alone, this is the logical place that you start from here first. Because there is so much to see—even if one is just window-shopping You can find easily a wide and incomparable selection of artisan and often locally produced carpets, jewelry of every possible provenance and material, leather goods, trinkets, antique weapons, and fabrics . The Old Bedesten, in the heart of the bazaar, offers a curious assortment of antiques, so that bazaar is the original and unique shopping mall with something to suit every taste and pocket.
