Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mahmutpaşa Kapısı
Exit the Grand Bazaar by this gate (Gate 18) and you'll find yourself on the busy
thoroughfare of Mahmutpaşa Yokuşu, which runs down to the Spice Bazaar and is
home to shops selling everything from wedding dresses to woollen socks, coffee
cups to circumcision outfits
Delicious Döner Kebaps
Ask any shopkeeper in the Grand Bazaar about who makes the best döner kebap in
the immediate area, and they are likely to give the same answer: 'Şahin Usta, of
course!' Grab one to go from
Dönerci Şahin Usta
(Kılıççılar Sokak 7, Nuruosmaniye; döner ke-
bap 10;
Çemberlitaş)
.
10am-3pm Mon-Sat;
Mahmutpaşa Hamamı
One of the oldest Ottoman hamams in the city (it dates from 1476), this building was
converted into a downmarket shopping centre a decade or so ago. Its domed ceiling,
stained-glass windows and marble floor offer a glimpse of its former glory.
Islamic Chic
In Bebek and Beyoğlu the fashion might be for tight jeans, revealing jackets and
chunky jewellery, but here in the Old City there's little make-up and even less flesh
on show. Wildly popular
Armine
(
www.armine.com
;
Mahmutpaşa Yokuşu 181, Eminönü;
Eminönü)
is where Zara style meets the headscarf.
10am-6pm Mon-Sat;
Turkish Coffee to Take Home
Tahmis Sokak on the western edge of the Spice Bazaar hosts a jumble of stalls
selling slabs of pungent farmhouse cheese, tubs of olives and mounds of
biber
salçası
(hot pepper paste). Also here is the flagship store of Turkey's most famous
coffee purveyor,
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi
(
www.mehmetefendi.com/eng
; cnr Tahmis
Sokak & Hasırcılar Caddesi, Eminönü;
Eminönü)
.
9am-6pm Mon-Sat;
