The bazaar, then and now

The Grand Bazaar is one of the best-known sights of Istanbul, though it serves as much as a souvenir shop for tourists as it does a place for locals to get the necessities of life.

I was expecting something like a Third World market where vendors sell from tables and flimsy booths beneath a big metal shed, but in fact the bazaar resembles much more the shopping arcades of such places as London and Melbourne, about which I've written previously:

In fact, shopping arcades like these have existed in the region for at least 2,000 years; here are the remains of the bazaar/arcade in Ephesus, which differ from the Grand Bazaar only in that the Roman street was either roofed in wood or not at all:


There is a lot to buy in the Grand Bazaar, but really, only if your house is already decorated in an Oriental motif. If your taste runs more to Art Deco, Danish modern or something else like that, the rugs, lamps and such won't be of much use to you:



Of course, you can always pick up the same fake Gucci and Prada that you find on Canal Street:


So, yes: I went to the Grand Bazaar and didn't even get a lousy T-shirt. But it was interesting nonetheless.