An endowment funding a mosque
Its revenues supported the New Mosque, its school and its kitchen.
Robot8A — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ray Swi-hymn from Sijhih-Taipei, Taiwan — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ray Swi-hymn from Sijhih-Taipei, Taiwan — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ray Swi-hymn from Sijhih-Taipei, Taiwan — CC BY-SA 2.0
A seventeenth-century covered market at Eminönü near the waterfront, known in Turkish as the Egyptian Bazaar because its revenues came from the Ottoman province of Egypt. It was built as part of the complex of the neighbouring New Mosque, on the Ottoman system by which a market or a bath endowed a mosque, its school and its kitchen. The market is far smaller than the Grand Bazaar and more specialised: spices, herbs, tea, nuts, sweets, dried fruit and honey. The smells are the essential experience here rather than the goods alone. You should know it has become largely visitor-oriented: prices inside are higher than in the surrounding streets, and vendors offer free samples generously as part of the sale. The streets behind the market — where people from Istanbul shop — are plainly cheaper for the same goods. Entry is free, and crowding is heavy in the middle of the day. It stands by the ferry piers and the Galata Bridge, so it folds easily into a day on the Golden Horn.
Its revenues supported the New Mosque, its school and its kitchen.
Spices, herbs, tea and nuts — the senses before the goods.
Where people from Istanbul buy the same goods for plainly less.
Eminönü, near the Rüstem Pasha Mosque
Grand BazaarA covered market in the heart of historic Istanbul, among the oldest and largest8 min walk
Galata TowerA fourteenth-century stone tower on the Galata hill north of the Golden Horn, am13 min walk
Istanbul Archaeological MuseumsA complex of three museums below Gülhane Park beside Topkapı Palace, holding one13 min walk
Basilica CisternThe largest surviving underground cistern of Constantinople, below ground a few 14 min walkCompare first. Prices inside are aimed at visitors and can be double those in the back streets minutes away, where the city's own people shop. If you want comfort and wide choice, buy inside; if you want the price, leave by the back gate and walk a little.
Saffron, Turkish red pepper, tea, Turkish delight, nuts and dried fruit. Be wary of very cheap saffron, which is usually safflower rather than saffron. Taste before buying — samples are part of the exchange — and ask the price by the kilo rather than by the box.
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