Istanbul’s Top Sights - Istanbul - page 157

TOP SIGHTS
SPICE BAZAAR

Vividly coloured spices are displayed alongside jewel-like lokum (Turkish delight) at this Ottoman-era
marketplace, providing eye candy for the thousands of tourists and locals who make their way here
every day. As well as spices and lokum , stalls sell dried herbs, caviar, nuts, honey in the comb, dried
fruits and pestil (fruit pressed into sheets and dried). The number of stalls selling tourist trinkets in-
creases annually, yet this remains a great place to stock up on edible souvenirs, share a few jokes with
the vendors and marvel at the well-preserved building. It's also home to one of the city's oldest restaur-
ants, Pandeli ( CLICK HERE ) .

DID YOU KNOW?

» Leeches are still used for traditional medical treatments in Turkey. You'll see them being offered for
sale in the outdoor market on the eastern side of the Spice Bazaar, alongside poultry and other small
animals.

PRACTICALITIES

» Mısır Çarşısı, Egyptian Market
» OFFLINE MAP

» 8am-6pm Mon-Sat, 9am-6pm Sun

» Eminönü

The market was constructed in the 1660s as part of the New Mosque ( CLICK HERE ); rent
from the shops supported the upkeep of the mosque as well as its charitable activities,
which included a school, hamam and hospital. The name Mısır Çarşısı (Egyptian Market)
comes from the fact that the building was initially endowed with taxes levied on goods im-