There are places that are an adventure for the senses, where you have to be awake and alert so as not to miss a detail. This is the Spice Bazaar, one of the most iconic places in Istanbul, where colors, aromas, flavors and people come together to create a market like no other.
The name of the Spice Bazaar in Turkish is Mısır Çarşısı, which means “Egyptian Bazaar”. This curious name may be due to the fact that, during the time of the Ottoman Empire, many of the spices that were marketed in Turkey came from Egypt.
However, the Egyptian territory was not the only supplier of the Spice Bazaar; in this market, products from Syria, Iran, India, Pakistan and even Afghanistan were sold, and continue to be sold.
The wide variety of products offered in the bazaar is as wide as its history, which began in 1664.
Today it is, together with the Grand Bazaar, one of the most important commercial points in Istanbul.
Likewise, it has become popular with the thousands of tourists who visit this important Turkish city every year, so the influx of people in the Spice Bazaar is usually huge.
One of the most outstanding curiosities of this famous market is that it is part of the structural complex of a mosque. It is also located very close to the Galata Bridge.
So many connections make the Spice Bazaar a compulsory stopping place, both for locals and visitors. In terms of size, it is vastly outnumbered by the Grand Bazaar, but both are active, vibrant, and constantly moving markets.
In the same way, the structure of the Spice Bazaar is simple, it is L-shaped, its corridors are almost completely linear and it has 6 entrance doors distributed throughout the building.
In the bazaar we can find more than 100 different stores, each with its own specialties. In addition to selling spices, traditional Turkish food stalls have a very important place in the Spice Bazaar.
Traditional Turkish sweets, dondurma ice cream, many types of tea and different typical sandwiches are offered there. If you are in Istanbul, and you want to live an experience that will fill all your senses, you cannot miss the Spice Bazaar.
The large traditional markets in Istanbul are normally open all year round, with few exceptions. On your trip to Turkey, the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar will most likely welcome you with open arms.
As usual, the market usually opens early in the morning, this being one of the best times of the day to visit it if you want to buy something, because the products are usually very fresh.
But if you don’t like crowds very much, you can wait until late afternoon, when the number of people has dropped and merchants are more willing to negotiate the price of their merchandise.
Regardless of the day or time, we assure you that you will want to walk the long corridors of the Spice Bazaar many more times.
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