Whether you want to find your way around town, do some sightseeing, indulge in a shopping spree or book accommodation in Istanbul, I’m sure you’ll find some useful words in this forth post of my Turkish Language for Tourists series.

Accommodation

Getting Around in Turkish

Turkish Sightseeing Words

Shopping in Turkish

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A trip to Istanbul is not complete without a visit to the Grand Bazaar. But hold your horses. Without proper advice, what is supposed to be a great oriental bargain hunt may become a big disillusion at best, or even a small nightmare.

When to Visit the Grand Bazaar

• Morning or Evening –The truth of the matter is that, at any given day, the sellers want to reach a certain sales quota. Some argue that the morning has preference in order to get a good deal, since they have the rest of the day still ahead. Other will recommend closing time, since the sellers probably have already reached that day’s profit goals and all the rest, however small it may be, is a nice extra for them. However, there is no evidence that either is a better option. In the end, it all comes down to your patience, bargaining skills and a bit of luck.
• Patience – I already mentioned it: make sure you’re not pressed for time. Visiting the Grand Bazaar sets you back for a couple of hours, certainly if you want to make a good deal. You need to visit several similar shops to find out what they have in store and check their initial quotes before you start bargaining.
• Good Mood – And this brings me to maybe the most important piece of advice: make sure you’re in a good mood. With over 250.000 shoppers/visitors a day, you’ll obviously not be shopping alone. Moreover, the Grand Bazaar is nothing like your regular shopping mall. There is no such thing as window-shopping. Be prepared to interact with hundreds of cajoling shop owners.

Finding Your Way In and Out Of the Grand Bazaar

With its 21 gates, finding an entrance to the Grand Bazaar (marked on the Map with Tourist Attractions in the Historical Part of Istanbul) is fairly easy. Chances are though that you’ll use one of the five major gates (see map below):

1. Beyazıt Kapısı (Çadırcılar Caddesi, Book Bazaar (Sahaflar Çarşısı)
2. Çarşıkapı (Beyazıt tram stop)
3. Nuruosmaniye Kapısı
4. Mahmut Paşa Kapısı
5. Örücüler Kapısı (towards Eminönü and the Spice Bazaar)

When you walk from any of the major sightseeing spots in Sultanahmet, you’ll probably take the first right off Yeniçeriler Caddesi (the extension of Divan Yolu Caddesi, the one with the tramway). Look for the sign in the picture.

Finding your way out of the Grand Bazaar maze may turn out to be a bigger challenge. Depending on where you want to go after shopping, you need to try to find the correct gate. Luckily, these days there are new and clear ‘road’ signs in place. Nevertheless, make sure you have written down the name of the gate on a piece of paper or print out the map below.

Where to Find What in the Grand Bazaar

The Grand Bazaar is famous for the following items:

• Leather (brown on the map)
• Gold Jewelry (yellow on the map)
• Silverware (yellow on the map)
• Antiques (orange-brown on the map)
• Copperware (İç Bedesten)
• Carpets (orange-brown on the map)
• Handbags, Briefcases & Suitcases (pink on the map)
• (Cheap) Clothing (Sandal Bedesten)
• Fabric (purple on the map)
• Belly-dancing costumes (pink on the map)
• Ceramic & Souvenirs (pink & green on the map)

Luckily for you, most shops are more or less grouped together into sections, according to what they sell. Click on the above map of the Grand Bazaar to enlarge it and look for the color codes. To make it as readable and useful as possible, it will open in a new browser window.

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The Grand Bazaar in the historical part of Istanbul is an intriguing maze of over 4.000 shops. Below you’ll find a fair impression it.

There are two versions available: a YouTube version (smaller in size) and a WVM version (bigger in size). The length of both movies is the same: 2:48 min.

Enjoy!

YouTube Version

Local Version

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The Grand Bazaar (Kapalı Çarşı), built in the 15th century, is the oldest covered market in the world. Covering an area of 54.653 square meters, it also still ranks as one of the world’s biggest covered markets. In other words, keep on reading if you want to be prepared before entering this maze of 56 interconnecting vaulted passages, housing over 4.000 shops with persistent shopkeepers eager to use their relentless sales tricks.

Grand Bazaar (Kapalı Çarşı)
Location
There are four main entrances to the Grand Bazaar.
Tel: +90 212 522 31 73 – +90 212 519 12 48
on Map with Tourist Attractions in the Historical Part of Istanbul
Open
Daily between 08.30 and 19.00. Closed on Sundays and October 29th. The bazaar is also closed for the full duration of religious holidays.
Ticket Sales
The entrance is free.

This series on the Grand Bazaar will cover:

• The history of the Grand Bazaar (see below)
• The Grand Bazaar Photo Gallery
• The Grand Bazaar Video Gallery
• The Grand Bazaar Essentials, including a map, tips and tricks

The Grand Bazaar Started Out Small

The Grand Bazaar was commissioned by Mehmet II (1444-1481) immediately after the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul in 1453 to provide financial resources for the Hagia Sophia.
The construction of the Grand Bazaar began in 1461. The Grand Bazaar, which was a wooden structure at the beginning, is now entirely built of stone and brick. Bricks were used for the vaulted arches, cut stones were used at the base of the arches, and walls were built by plastering over bricks or stone.

The oldest building is the Cevahir or İç Bedesten. The second oldest building is the Sandal Bedesten. Bedesten, a vaulted and fireproofed segment of the Grand Bazaar, gets its name from bez (cloth) and means cloth seller’s market. Both bedestens are typical examples of classical Ottoman architecture.

The Cevahir Bedesten, initially built for cloth trading and separated from the rest of the Grand Bazaar by four gates, later developed into a market for gold and precious stones. Located in the center of the Grand Bazaar, it also houses a bank.

Named after a type of cloth woven of silk and cotton fibers, the Sandal Bedesten spans an area of 2.435 square meters and is covered by 20 lead-plated domes. The Istanbul Municipality used the Sandal Bedesten as an auction house 1914 to 1980.

The Grand Bazaar Today

The Grand Bazaar reached its present size after the surrounding streets were provided overhead cover using canvas and the neighboring hans were integrated into it. Hans (inns) are two- or three-storied buildings. The shops within the hans were called hucre (cell) and they faced the square or rectangular inner court.

Every street was dedicated to a profession. Today most of these professions have disappeared but their memories live on through the names of the streets. Initially the roofs of the domes were covered with lead sheets. Later clay tiles from Marseille were used and today they are covered with ordinary tiles.

Competition was banned in the Grand Bazaar. Up to the 19th century, the shops, called dolap, did not have a name or signboard.
The Grand Bazaar underwent restoration only after the 1894 earthquake. It was after that when Western style signboards and display windows started being used. While there were 29 hans before the restoration process, only 17 were left after the restoration.

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.

It has 21 gates, 2 bedestens, 17 inns, 56 streets, nearly 4000 shops and employs more than 30.000 people.

Tourist Trap or Not?

For centuries the Grand Bazaar was the most vital centre of commerce, handicraft and finance in the Mediterranean and Near East.

Today, many may refer to the Grand Bazaar as a tourist trap, but that’s a distortion of the truth. Sure, without proper preparation for a visit to the Grand Bazaar, you may be an easy prey for the seasoned shopkeepers. But if you know how to bargain like a Turk, you can make excellent deals for authentic leather items, carpets, gold, silver or souvenirs; just like the locals do.
In the end, the Grand Bazaar was and is a place where (import/export) businesses flourish. The fact that it became a tourist attraction is of course a nice extra.

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The Egyptian or Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı) in Eminönü in the historical part of Istanbul is without a doubt the nicest place in town to stock up on exotic edibles. Below you’ll find a fair impression of it.

There are two versions available: a YouTube version (smaller in size) and a WVM version (bigger in size). The length of both movies is the same: 1:38 min. Enjoy!

YouTube Version

Local Version

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The Egyptian Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı), otherwise known as the Spice Bazaar, is the place to be to lay in a fresh supply of spices, nuts, honeycomb, Turkish delight, dried figs, caviar and mature hard Turkish cheese.

You can even find natural Turkish Viagra or herbal love potions on sale, although I wouldn’t expect miracles from those.

Egyptian or Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı)
Location
Yeni Camii Meydanı, Eminönü (next to the New Mosque (Yeni Camii).
Tel: +90 212 513 65 97
on Map with Tourist Attractions in the Historical Part of Istanbul
Open
Daily from 08.00 till 19:00. Closed on Sundays and October 29th. The bazaar is also closed for the full duration of religious holidays.
Entrance
The entrance is free.

Cairo caravan

The Spice Bazaar was built in 1664 as an extension of the New Mosque (Yeni Camii) complex, and its revenues helped support the upkeep of the mosque and its philanthropic institutions such as a school, a hospital and several baths.

The market was called Mısır Çarşısı (literally translated Egyptian Market) because the story goes that it was built with money paid as duty on Egyptian imports. The annual ‘Cairo caravan’ would bring along spices from Egypt, just like Istanbul located on the trade route between the East and Europe.

The main entrance (see Spice Bazaar picture gallery) to the Spice Bazaar is via a high brick arch on the pigeon infested plaza next to the New Mosque in Eminönü, located in the historical part of Istanbul.

Spices, nuts, Turkish delight, caviar and trinkets

Upon entering the L-shaped market, your nostrils will immediately pick up the overwhelming scent coming from the hundreds of spices on sale (see the Spice Bazaar video). Where the stalls in the bazaar originally only stocked spices (baharat) and herbs, over the years other edibles were added, such as nuts (kuruyemiş), honeycomb (petekbal), Turkish delight (lokum), dried fruit and vegetables (kuru meyve ve sebze), mature hard Turkish cheese (eski kaşar), caviar (make sure you get the Iranian variety) and smoked or dried beef (pastırma).

Today a fair amount of the over 90 shops unfortunately swopped their spices and offer the typical tourist trinkets such as low quality scarves, kids costumes and gold.

On the side

On both sides of the Spice Bazaar, there are some more bargains to be made. Outdoors, on the west side of the bazaar, you’ll find more stalls with fresh food. If you’re a caffeine connoisseur, don’t forget to pay Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi a visit. This famous coffee shop has been supplying the locals with their own-brand beans for over 100 years.

If you’re a flower or bird enthusiast, check out the open market between the bazaar and the New Mosque for flowers, plants, seeds and even birds.

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