Friday, 13 June 2008

Grand Bazaar in Istanbul - Turkey




The Grand Bazaar was built in 1464 by order of Mehmed II and has served the needs of the city ever since. Today it is one of the biggest covered markets in the entire world. With literally thousands of shops selling everything from t-shirts and leather jackets to expensive jewelry and antiques, the Grand Bazaar has more things for sale than you can imagine, including what has to be the biggest concentration of Turkish rugs in the universe. In addition to providing a great shopping area for tourists, it also provides a vital source of goods for locals.

You can easily spend half a day in the Grand Bazaar, and even if you go in without any particular items in mind, chances are that you'll come across something you just have to take home with you. In our case we came out with several big bags of things we just had to take home with us, and could easily have bought a whole lot more than that if we had room for it all.

Remember that ALL the prices quoted by the merchants are negotiable. I spent a lot of time haggling for the things I bought. In some cases I got great deals and in others I overpaid, but it was always fun to barter nonetheless. And it's not over when you leave the confines of the bazaar, because the entire surrounding area serves as a sprawling outdoor market as well. However, we found that the things for sale outside were not nearly as nice and that the outdoor market seemed to serve mostly the needs of locals, who came shopping for batteries, cooking utensils, underwear, and just about anything else you can imagine.

You'll just have to decide for yourself whether the Grand Bazaar is a tourist trap, but personally I think it would be a real shame to miss it.

source: virtualtourist.com

7 comments:

crystal.travel6 said...
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Lewis Clark said...

good post

essay best said...

It is a historical bazar of Turkey. The country has lot to offer to its visitors with beautiful street shops, old heritage, captivating scenery and much more.

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