When was the Spice Bazaar built?

Construction began in 1660 by order of Turhan Sultan, mother of Sultan Mehmed IV, and was completed in 1664. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism — Kültür Portalı)

Current status: The bazaar survived two major fires and was restored in 1940–43 and again in 2015–18. It remains in commercial use.

What is Spice Bazaar?

The Spice Bazaar is the second of Istanbul’s great covered markets, smaller and more concentrated than the Grand Bazaar and given over almost entirely to things you can eat. It stands at Eminonu, at the foot of the Galata Bridge, built into the courtyard of the New Mosque, and its L-shaped hall runs between six gates with vaulted bays on either side.

Turkish calls it Misir Carsisi, the Egyptian Bazaar. The name is usually explained in one of two ways: that the market was endowed with revenue from the Ottoman province of Egypt, or that the goods arriving here came up the trade route from Cairo. Either way the association is with the spice trade that made the building necessary.

How do you get to the Spice Bazaar?

The bazaar is at Eminonu on the Golden Horn, a minute from the ferry piers and the Galata Bridge. The T1 tram stops at Eminonu directly outside. From Sultanahmet it is two tram stops or a walk of around fifteen minutes downhill; from the Grand Bazaar you can walk down through the Mahmutpasa street market in about the same time, which is a far more interesting route than the tram.

Ferries from Kadikoy, Uskudar and the Princes’ Islands land at Eminonu, so the bazaar is an easy first or last stop on a Bosphorus crossing.

What is the history of the Spice Bazaar?

The market was completed in 1660 as part of the New Mosque complex, the Yeni Cami, whose long and troubled construction was finally finished under the patronage of Turhan Hatice Sultan, the mother of Mehmed IV. The architect was Mustafa Aga.

Markets of this kind were not built for their own sake. Their rents were the endowment that paid for the mosque, its school, its fountain and its charitable kitchen, and that arrangement is why the bazaar sits physically attached to the mosque rather than somewhere more convenient.

For centuries the stalls dealt in spices, herbs and medicinal preparations brought in by sea, and the market functioned as the city’s pharmacy as much as its grocery. Fires and earthquakes damaged it repeatedly, and the building has been restored more than once, most substantially in the twentieth century.

What is the Spice Bazaar famous for?

It is one of the oldest covered markets still trading in Istanbul, and with the Grand Bazaar it is among the oldest surviving shopping complexes anywhere. The original layout ran to around eighty-five shops under the vaults, a number the building still roughly holds.

It is also the point at which the spice trade physically landed in the city, which is why the streets immediately around it, rather than the hall itself, remain the wholesale heart of the trade.

What can you see at the Spice Bazaar?

The vaulted hall. The architecture is easy to miss behind the displays. Look up at the painted brick vaults and the light coming through the upper windows, which is what distinguishes the interior from a modern arcade.

The spice and dried fruit stalls. Saffron, sumac, Urfa and Aleppo pepper, dried figs and apricots, pistachios, walnuts, and the powdered blends sold as Turkish coffee and tea. Ask to smell before you buy; good saffron and poor saffron look similar and do not smell similar.

Turkish delight and halva. Sold in every bay, and better assessed by asking for a taste than by looking at the pyramid on display.

The streets outside. Hasircilar Caddesi, running along the outside of the market, is where many locals actually shop, and it holds the long-established coffee grinder whose queue is usually visible from the corner. Behind it, Tahtakale is a dense grid of hardware, kitchen and wholesale food streets.

Rustem Pasha Mosque. A few minutes away, reached by an easily missed staircase, and covered inside with some of the finest Iznik tilework in the city. It is one of the best things in this quarter and most visitors walk straight past it.

Who are the most famous people in the history of the Spice Bazaar

Turhan Hatice Sultan. The valide sultan whose patronage completed the New Mosque complex, and therefore the bazaar built to endow it.

Mustafa Aga. The chief imperial architect responsible for the final phase of the complex in the seventeenth century.

Safiye Sultan. The earlier valide sultan who began the New Mosque decades before, a project abandoned on her fall from influence and left unfinished for more than half a century.

What are the best things to do in the Spice Bazaar?

Walk the hall once from end to end before buying anything, so you know what the range and the asking prices look like. Haggling is expected in the tourist-facing stalls and less so in the specialist food shops outside, where prices tend to be marked and fair.

Buy whole spices rather than ground where you can, since ground spice on open display loses its character quickly. If you are taking food home, check what your own country allows you to bring in before you commit to a kilo of anything.

Combine the visit with the New Mosque next door, the Galata Bridge with its fishermen on the upper deck, and a ferry across the Golden Horn. The area is at its best in the morning, when the wholesale streets behind the market are working.

Other places to visit in the Marmara Region

  • Sabiha Gokcen Airport — Sabiha Gokcen Airport, officially known as Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SAW), is one of the main airports serving Istanbul, Turkey.
  • Sile — Sile is a small coastal town located on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, approximately 70 kilometers east of Istanbul.
  • Troy — A place to visit in Troas, Canakkale, Turkey.

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Frequently asked questions about Spice Bazaar

What is the Spice Bazaar?

It is Istanbul second great covered market, at Eminonu on the Golden Horn, given over almost entirely to food. Completed in 1660 as part of the New Mosque complex, its L-shaped vaulted hall holds around eighty-five shops selling spices, dried fruit, nuts, tea, coffee and Turkish delight.

Why is it called the Egyptian Bazaar?

The Turkish name, Misir Carsisi, means Egyptian Bazaar. It is explained either by the revenue from the Ottoman province of Egypt that endowed the market, or by the goods that arrived here along the trade route from Cairo. Both point to the same thing: this is where the spice trade landed in the city.

How do you get to the Spice Bazaar?

It stands at Eminonu beside the Galata Bridge. The T1 tram stops directly outside, ferries from Kadikoy and Uskudar land a minute away, and it is a fifteen-minute downhill walk from either Sultanahmet or the Grand Bazaar.

Should you haggle at the Spice Bazaar?

In the stalls inside the hall that face visitors, yes, and the first figure quoted is an opening position. The specialist food shops on the streets outside, particularly along Hasircilar Caddesi, generally mark their goods and are where locals shop.

What is worth buying at the Spice Bazaar?

Whole spices rather than ground, since ground spice on open display fades quickly. Saffron, sumac, Urfa and Aleppo pepper, dried figs and apricots, pistachios, and freshly ground Turkish coffee. Ask to smell or taste before committing, and check what your own country allows you to bring home.

What else is worth seeing near the Spice Bazaar?

The New Mosque next door, the Galata Bridge with its fishermen, the wholesale streets of Tahtakale behind the market, and above all Rustem Pasha Mosque, reached by an easily missed staircase and lined inside with some of the finest Iznik tilework in Istanbul.