| The
mysterious Orient as pictured in western eyes over the centuries is
in many ways |
| epitomised
by the Mısır Çarşısı - Egyptian Bazaar - in Istanbul. To this market
came |
| the
spices of the Far East, and for centuries people came here to purchase
a thousand |
| and
one ingredients in hope of curing their medical complaints. These
associations from |
| the
past still linger in the bazaasa exotic image. Ever since it was built,
visitors both local |
| and
foreign to Istanbul have sought out the Egyptian Bazaar. Although
at first sight the |
| building
might seem typical of classical Ottoman bazaars, its plan and structure |
| distinguish
it from others in Istanbul, Edirne and Bursa. Each of the arched eyvans, |
| originally
open at the front, along the covered street of the bazaar was occupied
by a |
| shop,
and behind each was a room twice the size of the eyvan. The jars of
spices and |
| pharmaceutical
drugs were displayed in the eyvan at the front where the customers |
| were
served. The rear room, meanwhile, was used for storage and for making
up |
| prescriptions.
Today, however, the shops have been altered so that the eyvans are |
| enclosed. |
| |
| The
L-shaped bazaar has two large main gates and four smaller, and is
built of stone |
| and
brick, rather than timber like other bazaars of the period. At the
corner where the |
| two
arms meet is a prayer dome and a place from which the call to prayer
was chanted. |
| The
main entrances at the extremities of the two arms are in the form
of two-storey |
| portals
with six-arch colonnades. These portals once housed two commercial
courts, |
| one
to settle disagreements between tradesmen, and the other between tradesmen
and |
| customers.
The Egyptian Bazaar is part of the complex of Yeni Mosque, construction
of |
| which
began during the reign of Mehmed III (1595-1603) and was completed
in 1663 by |
| the
architect Mustafa Ağa for Hatice Turhan Sultan, mother of Mehmed IV
(1648-1687). |
| It
was therefore originally known as the Yeni Bazaar or Valide Bazaar,
valide meaning |
| mother.
Since the spices and drugs sold in the bazaar arrived by ships from
Egypt which |
| unloaded
their cargos nearby, in time it came to be known as the Egyptian Bazaar. |
| |
| In
the early years the Egyptian Bazaar was occupied by shops selling
cotton as well as |
| pharmaceuticals.
It is one of the loveliest classical style bazaars in Istanbul, and
its L |
| shape
is typical of the arasta type of bazaar consisting of rows of shops
devoted to the |
| same
trade. The six gates of the Egyptian Bazaar are the main Eminönü Gate, |
| Balıkpazarı
(formerly Tahmis) Gate, Ketenciler Gate, Çiçekpazarı Gate, Yeni Cami
Gate |
| and
Bahçe (formerly Haseki) Gate. Edmondo d'Amicis, who visited Istanbul
during the |
| reign
of Sultan Abdülaziz (1861-1876) described the Egyptian Bazaar in the
following |
| words:
'Entering this, we are immediately assailed by an odour so powerful
as to fairly |
| knock
one down: this is the Egyptian Bazaar, where are deposited all the
wares of India, |
| Syria,
Egypt, and Arabia, which later on, converted into essences, pastilles,
powders |
| and
ointments, serve to colour little hands and faces, perfume apartments
and baths |
| and
breaths and beards, reinvigorate worn-out pashas, and dull the senses
of unhappy |
| married
people.' The pharmacists trained as apprentices and having risen to
the rank of |
| master
opened their own shops.They not only sold medicinal herbs, but also
served as |
| folk
doctors who prescribed cures for their customers' complaints. |
| |
| Their
myriad store of ingredients included dried flowers, leaves, stems,
seeds, tree |
| bark
and roots, among them many still commonly used for culinary purposes
and home |
| remedies
today, such as sage, rosemary, morning glory, hemp, marsh mallow,
thyme, |
| momordica,
violet, lemon balm, basil, summer savory, nettle, and mahaleb. The |
| pharmacists
were at the same time perfumers, who prepared fragrant essences. |
| Today
there are just nine shops selling herbs and spices in the bazaar,
the others |
| selling
such a wide range of goods as jewellery, furniture, meat, dried nuts
and fruits, |
| haberdashery,
baskets, perfumes, and confectionery. The dried fruit and nut shops
are |
| almost
as fascinating as the spice shops, with their tempting range of pistachio
nuts, |
| almonds,
hazelnuts, dried figs, dried peaches, raisins, coconut and many others.
T |
| here
are also grocery shops selling many varieties of jam - such as quince,
sour cherry, |
| apricot,
strawberry and fig, delicious cheeses, preserved meats and sausages,
and |
| different
kinds of honey. |
| |
| On
the upper floor of the portal at the south gate is a famous restaurant,
Pandeli, which |
| has
been serving Turkish cuisine here for a hundred years. On the walls
are proudly |
| displayed
newspaper cuttings about the restaur'stge famous guests, including
Mustafa |
| Kemal
Atatürk who came to eat here both during Ottoman times and after the
founding |
| of
the Turkish Republic in 1923. Other celebrated patrons of Pandeli
were the poet |
| Yahya
Kemal Beyatlı and novelist Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar. |
| |
| There
are also small shops along the outer walls of the Egyptian Bazaar,
fishmongers to |
| the
north and pet shops and flower shops to the south. So although the
character of the |
| Egyptian
Bazaar has changed since Ottoman times, the variety of goods to be
found |
| here
make it if anything more colourful than it was. |
