Through the Markets and Bazaars - Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City - page 157

Fatih's time. Then, as now, it was used to house the most precious
wares, for it can be securely locked and guarded at night. Some of the
most interesting and valuable objects in the Bazaar are sold here: brass
and copper of every description, often old and fine; ancient swords
and weapons, antique jewellery and costumes, fine glassware, antique
coins, and classical and Byzantine pottery and figurines. As we might
expect, not all of the antiquities sold in the Bedesten are authentic.
Nevertheless, many of the imitations are of excellent workmanship,
for the craftsmen who made them often belong to the same guild as
those who did the originals, using the same tools and techniques as
their predecessors.
If we leave the Bedesten through the Gate of the Goldsmiths
we will notice above the outer portal the figure, in low relief, of a
single-headed Byzantine eagle. This was the imperial emblem of the
Comneni dynasty, which ruled over Byzantium in the eleventh and
twelfth centuries. This has suggested to some that the Old Bedesten
was originally of Byzantine construction, although most scholars are
agreed that it was built in Fatih's time. In his Seyahatname , Evliya
Çelebi describes this eagle and gives us his own original view of its
significance: “Above the Gate of the Goldsmiths there is represented a
formidable bird opening its wings. The meaning of the symbol is this:
'Gain and trade are like a wild bird, which if it is to be domesticated
by courtesy and politeness, may be done so in the Beclesten'.”
The Gate of the Goldsmiths opens onto Inciciler Sokağı, the Street
of the Pearl-Merchants. If we follow this street and take the third
turning on the right, we will soon come to one of the gateways of the
Sandal Bedesteni. This is often called the New Bedesten because it was
built some time after Fatih's Bedesten, perhaps early in the sixteenth
century, when the great increase in trade and commerce required an
additional market and storehouse for valuables. The Sandal Bedesteni
is far less colourful in its activities than the Old Bedesten, for it is
almost empty most of the time. But for that reason we can examine
its splendid structure more easily, with its 12 massive piers, in four
rows of three each, supporting 20 brick domes. The best time to visit
the Sandal Bedesteni is on Monday and Thursday at one o'clock in
the afternoon, when the rug auctions are held. These auctions take