Spice Bazaar, Istanbul was constructed in the 1660s as part of the New Mosque complex, with rents from the shops going to support the upkeep of the mosque and its charitable activities. It was called the Egyptian Market (Mısır Çarşısı), because it was famous for selling goods shipped in from Cairo.
Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı), Istanbul
Enter the Spice Bazaar, also known as the Egyptian Market from the northernmost entrance, where Tahmis Sokak meets the square in front of the New Mosque. The bazaar was built by the Valide Turhan Sultan in 1660, build and the architect was Kasim Ağa, as part of the New Mosque complex; its name derives from the goods that were once sold here, having arrived by sea via the annual ‘Cairo Caravan’. The brick walls and high, vaulted ceilings give it all the allure of the Grand Bazaar, but at a fraction of the size.
In the old days there were sold here drugs of all kinds, prepared medicines, useful herbs and spices beyond number, with flowers, seeds, nuts and perfumes. It was in fact an important oriental market.
The bazaar’s stalls brim with heaps of brightly coloured herbs, spices, tea leaves, nuts and lokum (Turkish Delight), as well as copious amounts of honey, olive oil and caviar, and even the odd pot of the aphrodisiac “Turkish Viagra“. Also peppered around are stalls selling natural soaps and sponges, ceramics, jewellery and scarves.
Used to a steady influx of tourists, the vendors can be tiresome and their prices often inordinately high. As well as spices, nuts, honeycomb and olive-oil soaps, the bustling spice bazaar sells truckloads of figs, lokum (Turkish delight) and pestil (fruit pressed into sheets and dried).
Although the number of shops selling tourist trinkets increases annually, this is still a great place to stock up on edible souvenirs, share a few jokes with the vendors and marvel at the well-preserved building. Most of the shops offer vacuum packaging, which makes it easy to take souvenirs home. Also here is Hasırcılar Caddesi, a narrow street selling spices and other goods that are often a fraction of the price of equivalent products in the Spice Bazaar. Look out for the flagship store of the most famous coffee purveyor in Turkey, “Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi“, which is on the corner nearest to the bazaar.
When you are ready to leave, take the exit in the middle of the bazaar that leads out into the plant and pet market nestled into the crook of the L-shaped structure. Here dogs, ducks, pheasants, rabbits and even leeches are available to buy, but you will most likely prefer to take a breather in one of the adjacent open-air cafes.
Spice bazaar is smaller compared to Grand bazaar but only few minutes away from each other. Definitely worth a visit. Don’t forget to check out the backstreet of this bazaar. There are some small shops and most of them are fixed price.
Not too overwhelming place to shop but nice variety of items.
Great place to shop for nuts, dried apricots, figs, so yummy…
Located near the new mosque and bosphorus in Sirecki, Istanbul the spice market is a must see and experience. I stumbled across this on my first day and what a gem of a find. There is an impressive display of spices, teas, Turkish delights that you could ever imagine and more colours than the rainbow of spices.
This is often called the Spice Market and for good reason – stalls with mountains of spices, many of which I've never seen before. It's much smaller than the Grand Bazaar and better for it. As well as spices there is a huge variety of different flavours of turkish delight. Again they all want your trade but in a non-threatening…
The spice bazaar in Istanbul is the best we've been. A lot of shops to buy a huge variety of spices. I would recommend to walk around and look for big shops which have the best quality and service. They even put in a vacuum sealed package to carry to your home country.
The Egyptian Bazaar is where you can just follow your nose (with a little eye on the price). I think you should decide if you want to buy something or if you just want to check it out.
The Egyptian Bazaar also called the Spice Bazaar is worth the visit. It is much smaller and more manageable than the Grand Bazaar and the layout is an L shape, so there's a beginning and an end to the market, well, inside anyway! Each time we visited, it was very busy. It is located near the Galata Bridge.
Great place to wander for a couple of hours taking your time to see it all. Not as large as the Grand Bazaar but it has a nicer, less full-on atmosphere about it.
A small market, spread over few blocks. Most of the time not very crowded. Combines both shops for tourists and for residents. Great atmosphere, the merchants are not pushy, you can find there anything that Istanbul shops have to offer, ceramics, coffee, spices,
Turkish delight and everything else you might encounter during your visit. A great place to buy souvenirs…
I loved this market! There was absolutely everything there. And I loved that it wasn't completely tourist-y. The alleys that spilled out from the main building were more for locals.