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The Kapali Carsi or Covered Bazaar or Grand Bazaar is one of Istanbul's most intriguing sights.
This labyrinth of vaulted roofed winding streets and domed buildings evolved over a period of 250 years. In the 15th century Sultan Mehmed II (1451-1481) built two stone bedestens, or exchanges as a source of income for Ayasofya Mosque (today Haghia Sophia Museum). Here merchants could store and sell their valuable merchandise. Known as the Cevahir and Sandal Bedestens respectively, these became the hub of Istanbul's commerce, and numerous stalls and shops were built around them. In time the lanes lined by these shops were roofed over for the convenience of shoppers, creating the bazaar as we know it today. This ancient shopping centre has suffered serious damage from earthquakes and fires over the three centuries since it attained its final form around 1700.
Fires in 1701 and 1750 were followed by the earthquake of 1766, and further fires in 1791 and 1826. Then came the great earthquake of 1894, and most recently the fire of 1954, after which restoration work continued for five years. For those unfamiliar with the Kapaliçarsi and without a map it is easy to become lost or wander in circles. It covers an area of 30.7 hectares (75.8 acres), and consists of over 3000 shops and 61 streets, not to mention ten wells, four fountains, two mosques, and several cafés and restaurants. Around 25,000 people are permanently employed in the bazaar, and an indeterminate number of street vendors ply their wares in and around it. The heart of Turkey's gold market and unofficial foreign exchange market beat here.
Over the centuries travellers to Istanbul have found the exotic atmosphere of this great bazaar, a miniature city within a city, irresistible. In the past the bazaar was lit only by high windows beneath the vaults, since the shopkeepers opened at first light and closed at dusk. In the centre of the complex is the high domed hall of the Cevahir Bedesten, also known as the Eski or iç Bedesten. Here the most valuable items and antiques were to be found in the past, and still are today, including copperware, amber prayer beads, inlaid weapons, icons, mother-of-pearl mirrors, water pipes, walking sticks, watches and clocks, candlesticks, old coins, and silver and gold jewellery set with coral and turquoise.
The other 15th century hall, the Sandal Bedesten (also known as the Yeni or Küçük Bedesten) is roofed by 20 domes and lies at the northeast corner. The wayward, seemingly random plan of the other parts of the bazaar is part of its fascination. Surrounding the bazaar itself are numerous commercial buildings known as hans, each a warren of small workshops on several floors, often named after trades, such as Varakçi (Gold Leaf Maker) Han, today long superseded. Until the end of the 19th century a family could go on a shopping expedition to the Kapaliçarsi and purchase new outfits from top to toe, all the furnishings and household linen they required, have seal rings carved to order, and even equip the master of the household with a variety of weapons; all under this one roof.
Today souvenirs and gifts seem to dominate, with rugs and jewellery a close second. The various tradesmen still tend to be grouped together along particular streets, whose names often recall items that have long since disappeared. There are the streets of Helmet Makers, Fez Makers, Napkin Makers, Quilt Makers, Calligraphers and Book Dealers, to name but a few. The book dealers have since moved out of the main bazaar into a small open-air bazaar known as Sahaflar �?arsisi next to Beyazit Gate. A leisurely afternoon spent exploring the bazaar, sitting in one of the cafés and watching the crowds pass by, and bargaining for purchases is one of the best ways to recapture the romantic atmosphere of old Istanbul.
Reference: Tansel Tuzel/SKYLIFE
Notes
Kapaliçarsi or the Covered Bazaar is the collective name given to two bedestens and the series of vaulted commercial streets that surround them, located between the Nuruosmaniye and Bayezid Mosques north of Divanyolu, the main road traversing the historic peninsula heading towards Edirne (Adrinople). It is located at the northern edge of a larger market neighborhood that occupies the southern hillside of the Golden Horn where commercial ships arrived with their loads. From here, the merchandise was distributed to the hans and wholesale markets for distribution throughout the city. Some of these raw goods made their way up the hill to the artisan workshops of the covered bazaar whose streets are named after its artisans: slipper-makers (terlikçiler), shoe-makers (kavafçilar), mirror-makers (aynacilar), wash-cloth makers (keseciler), fez-makers (fesçiler), comforter-makers (yorgancilar), silk-thread makers (kazazcilar), polishers (perdahçilar), fur-makers (kürkçüler), just to name a few.
At the heart of the Ottoman bazaar are two bedestens, or domed masonry structures designed for safe storage and sale of luxury goods, that were built by Mehmed II (1451-1481) following the conquest in order to revive trade and provide income for the newly converted Hagia Sophia Mosque. Byzantium also had a central market with streets allocated to trades and crafts; however, its exact location and its state at the time of the Ottoman conquest are not certain. It is equally difficult to identify what stood on the site prior to the Ottoman reconstruction. The two bedestens, built less than fifty meters apart facing two different directions, were quickly surrounded by shops and vaulted arcades; scholars estimate that the bazaar had reached a third of its current size by the end of Mehmed II's rule.
The covered bazaar has gone through many fires and earthquakes, following which it was rebuilt and expanded in an ad hoc fashion. Markets surroundings the bedestens were destroyed by fire in 1546, 1589 and 1618. A fire in 1652 originated in the Old Bedesten and a conflagration destroyed the entire city including the markets in 1660. In 1695 and 1701 fires originated again in the Old Bedesten; the wooden vaults of the surrounding streets were converted to masonry in the following restoration. The fire of 1750 damaged the market and was followed by janissaries looting the site. Repairs were conducted after the 1766 earthquake and fires of 1791 and 1826. Mahmud Celaleddin Pasa (1839-1899), the Minister of Public Works under Abdülhamid II, re-organized the covered market after the 1894 earthquake damaged its structure and vaults. Its size was reduced through removing vaults and detaching hans and new gates were installed on major routes. The structure was reinforced with iron and the vaults were decorated with arabesques. Repairs were conducted in the five years following an earthquake in 1954 and the interior was repainted in 1980. Today, the bazaar retains its 1894 boundaries enclosing 61 streets in an area of 30.7 hectares.
The bedestens
The Old Bedesten (Eski Bedesten, Bedestan-i Atik), also known as Cevahir Bedesteni (Jewelers' Bedesten), Iç Bedesten (Inner Bedesten) or Big Bedesten (Büyük Bedesten), is located at the center of the covered bazaar, oriented slightly off the east-west axis. It consists of forty-four masonry cells (mahzen) around a rectangular courtyard measuring 45.3 by 29.4 meters, enclosed with fifteen domes in three rows. The two rows of eight piers supporting the roof are crowned by small cupolas on the exterior. An outer envelope of 56 shops covers its walls. A majority of the bazaar streets are aligned with the walls of the Old Bedesten, and streets emanate from the arched gates located at the center of each façade. The interior is lit solely from windows at the upper section of the walls, linked by a wooden catwalk. In addition to jewelry sales and auctions for the slave trade (outlawed in 1847), the Old Bedesten was also used by all merchants of the covered bazaar as a safe deposit for money and precious goods. Its floor space is occupied by a large number of small wooden stores today.
The Sandal Bedesten was built later to house the fine fabric trade and is also known as the New (Bedestan-i Cedid) or Small Bedesten (Küçük Bedesten, Bezzaziye-i Sugra). Located to the southeast of the Old Bedesten across from the Nuruosmaniye Mosque (c. 1755), the Sandal Bedesten is a simple walled enclosure measuring 38.8 by 32 meters, covered by twenty small domes in four rows that rest on twelve piers. Entered from gates at the center of each façade, the bedesten is surrounded by an irregular fabric of masonry stores on all sides. Both the Old and Sandal Bedesten have rubble stone-walls, brick domes, stone piers and brick arches tied by juniper beams. Their heavy iron doors are embellished with nails.
The gates
The covered bazaar is entered from four main gates located at the end of its two main streets, the north-south Yaglikçilar (oil lamp makers) Street and the east-west Kalpakçilar (fur hat makers) Street, which intersect near the southwest corner of the bazaar. Kalpakçilar Street connects the Bayezid Mosque and Bayezid Square to the west with Nuruosmaniye Mosque to the east; the gates at these locations were added during the 1894 renovation and bear the royal monogram of Abdülhamid II. The gates allowed the entire bazaar to be closed down after work hours when watchmen hired by the guild surveyed its streets at night.
Although the structure of the covered bazaar has been largely maintained, its function and administration, as well as the nature of its goods and the interior architecture have been transformed beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century. By the 1960's, changes in Turkish industry and economy and in the urban demographics of Istanbul had effectively replaced the traditional craft workshops with western-style boutiques and tourist shops, which constitute the bulk of the trade in the bazaar today. The stores, traditionally, consisted of open displays separated by curtains or thin wood partitions that were enclosed with vertical shutters at night. Most stores are now permanently enclosed with illuminated glass storefronts; while posting signage in alleyways was outlawed after the 1980 restoration. The important role of the medieval guild (lonca) organizations in the administration, maintenance and protection the bazaar is now inadequately performed by a weak multitude of bazaar associations.
The covered bazaar has a number of small mosques (mescit), all built above ground level and historic sabils and fountains on significant routes and intersections. Some market hans, including the Astarci Hani, Büyük Safran Hani, Küçük Safran Hani, Evliya Hani, Sarraf Hani, Mercan Aga Hani, Zincirli Han, Varakçi Hani, Rabia Hani, Kuyumcular Hani and Yarim Tas Hani, are entered solely from within the covered bazaar.
Sources:
Dünden Bugüne Istanbul Ansiklopedisi. 1993. Istanbul: Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfi IV, 422-430.
Ayverdi, Ekrem Hakki. Osmanli Mi'marisinde Fatih Devri : 855-886 (1451-1481): IV. Baha Matbaasi: Istanbul, 1974, pp. 557-575.
Cezar, Mustafa. 1983. Typical Commercial Buildings of the Ottoman Classical Period and the Ottoman Construction System. Ankara: Türkiye Is Bankasi Cultural Productions, 174-181.
Gülersoy, Çelik. 1990. Story of the Covered Bazaar. Istanbul: Istanbul Kitapligi.
Müller-Wiener, Wolfgang. 2001. Istanbul'un Tarihsel Topografyasi, 17. Yüzyil Baslarina Kadar Byzantion-Konstantinopolis-Istanbul (Bildlexikon zur Topographie Istanbuls). Istanbul: Yapi Kredi Yayinlari.
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