Mısır Çarşısı

"Mısır Çarşısı"

Mısır Çarşısı also known as Egyptian Spice Bazar is one of the largest historical bazaars of Istanbul. It is located in Eminönü, in the Fatih Mahallesi of Istanbul. Mısır Çarşısı means Egyptian Market in Turkish.

Almost four hundred years old and still in operation, the Egyptian Spice Bazar has always been the center of the spice trade in Istanbul. From ottoman times to even now, the major spice trades of Istanbul take place in the Egyptian Spice Bazar. It was first established in the year 1660. The reason behind naming it Mısır çarşısı or Egyptian Market is that this market was built from the revenue earned from Egypt. In Turkish, the word Mısır can mean Egypt and corn at the same time, sometimes this place is mistaken as a corn market. In other historical documents, The Egyptian Spice Bazar was at first named Yeni Pazar or the New Market.

Mısır Çarşısı or Egyptian Spice Bazar History

"Mısır Çarşısı Outside"

Egyptian Spice Bazar's old and historic building is part of the Yeni Cami or New Mosques Külliye. A Külliye is a Mosque complex comprised of a mosque, a charitable kitchen, a philosophical school, and a 'Dar-uş-Şifa' or charitable clinic and often is governed by a single committee with the help of a Vakf or Fund. This Egyptian Spice Bazar was part of the Yeni Cami and the revenue earned from the Bazar by renting stalls was used to take care of the mosque and repair damages from time to time, leading to the relatively good condition of the mosque considering its old age. The building of the Egyptian Spice Bazar was designed by the four Turkish imperial architects Koca Kasım Ağa, although construction wasn't supervised by him. In the year 1660, a great fire engulfed the city of Istanbul and continue to burn for a full two days. The fire began on 24 July 1660 and continued to burn for a whopping 49 hours according to the records of Abdi Pasha. This historic fore destroyed many homes. After this tragedy followed a major reconstruction project. Under the reconstruction project, many projects which had previously been planned started again. Construction work on the Yeni Cami, which had been halted since 1603 was also among the resumed projects. The construction of the Mısır çarşısı building began shortly after the fire at the end of 1660 under the supervision of another Turkish imperial architect Mustafa Ağa.

Construction of the Külliye of Yeni Cami including the spice Bazar was commissioned by Sultana Turhan Hatice, who was the Valide Sultan or The Mother of Sultan Mehmet the Fourth. After the restarting of construction, the mosque complex along with the Spice Bazar we're finished in the year 1665. Today, the historical bazaar holds eighty-five shops of mostly spices and Turkish delights. But as time goes on, spice shops are being replaced with more and more jewelry and souvenir shops better suited for the major amount of tourist customers who come to visit this historical bazaar every year.

Mısır Çarşısı Why Famous

"Crowded Mısır Çarşısı"

Egyptian Spice Bazar is the most famous historical bazaar in Istanbul after the Grand Bazar Kapalı çarşı. Visitors are often welcomed by friendly vendors in the spice market who offer them to try our different Turkish delights for free. And not to mention the free chay they offer. People can find not only spices but Turkish, delights, jewelry, traditional decorative lamps and so many different things in the spice Bazar. It is truly a unique experience for tourists to shop in a historic market like this.

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