The Spice Bazaar is a bazaar located in Eminönü, Istanbul. This bazaar is serving since 1660. The bazaar has been called the Egyptian Bazaar because it sells spices, herbs and similar products from Egypt. This big bazaar is also known as Spice Bazaar. It has a popular place among the oldest bazaars of Istanbul. The historical building is among the places that tourists coming to Istanbul visit first. Here you can find local clothes, nuts, flower seeds and coffee, as well as colorful spices. It offers its guests a magnificent atmosphere. The Spice Bazaar has been a frequent destination for travelers who want to fill their bags with edible memories.
How about a going to the Spice Bazaar by rent a car in İstanbul? We visited it within the scope of most popular places to visit in Istanbul. And, we found answers to your questions: What is the history of it? Where is the Spice Bazaar? How to go there? We prepared this travel article for you. Enjoy the trip!
Where is the Spice Bazaar?
The Spice Bazaar address: Rüstem Paşa Mahallesi Mısır Çarşısı No:92 Eminönü – Fatih/İstanbul. Especially if you are coming from the European side, you can easily and comfortably reach here by renting a car in İstanbul.
History of the Spice Bazaar
The Spice Bazaar is located next to the Flower Market in Eminönü. It is also located behind the New Mosque. The bazaar was built in 1660 by Turhan Sultan. Kazım Ağa was the architect of the historical building. It was last restored by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality between 1940 and 1943. If you say which sultan was built at the time of it, we can say that the construction of the building started with the instruction of Safiye Sultan, the wife of Murat the 3rd.
However, after Safiye Sultan sat in the old palace after the death of Mehmet III, the construction could not be completed. Upon this, Hatice Turhan, the mother of Mehmet, decides to build a mosque and asks for a bazaar in the complex. Thus, Yeni Mosque and it, where Mustafa Ağa was the architect, came to this day. A bazaar called Makron Emvolos was located at the place where the bazaar was located. When this bazaar was built in the district where the Jews reside, the Jews were transferred to Balat.
Spice Bazaar was called Yeni Bazaar and Valide Bazaar in the 17th century. Since most of the goods sold in the bazaar are products and spices from Egypt, it started to be called the Egyptian Bazaar after the middle of the 18th century. The bazaar, which had two great fires in history and reached today with all its repairs, was built in a classical Ottoman style with an L plan.
Spice Bazaar Features
The bazaar has 6 doors, 4 large and 2 small. There are spice stores, shops selling aromatic, herbal and essential oils, dry eaters, jewelers, and tourist shops in the Spice Bazaar. You can find many things like authentic looking colored glass chandeliers, pompom palace slippers, embroidered tourist and folkloric clothes, silver jewelery, ceramics, china plates, tribes, cups, hookahs, weavings, fancy lounge pillows, carpets and statues in the Spice Bazaar. In addition, you can find lime, ginger, licorice, chamomile, sage, cinnamon and apple peel blended herbal teas, rare oils, dried herbs, flowers, roots, shells. Today, the shops in the bazaar include Antep Market, Arifoğlu Spice, Arslan Spice, Ayfer Spice, Develi Spice, Güllüoğlu and Malatya Market.
You can visit the Spice Bazaar every day of the week. The Spice Bazaar is closed on all religious holidays and October 29 Republic Day. However, the time intervals that are open vary according to the days. Spice Bazaar working hours are as follows:
- Weekdays: 08.00 – 19.30
- Saturdays: 08.00 – 20.00
- Sundays: 09.30 – 19.00
Places to Visit Around the Spice Bazaar
If you go to the historical Spice Bazaar, there are places you can visit in very close surroundings. Yeni Mosque, which is as historic as the Flower Market and the Spice Bazaar, ranks first among these places. In addition, the Balkapanı, where the honeys from various places are collected from the Ottoman period, is located in Hasırcılar Street, just behind the bazaar. It is made in classical caravanserai type and has a courtyard in the middle part. Balkapanı is one of the places that you may be interested in. If you leave the side door of it, do not forget to buy coffee from Kuru Kahveci Mehmet Efendi, which is also close to Hasırcılar Street. Another point that you should not forget is that you will have your camera with you while visiting the historical places that lived from the Ottoman to the Republican Period.
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How to Go to The Spice Bazaar?
- Tramway: You can go on foot after reaching the Eminönü stop by using the Bağcılar-Kabataş tramway line to reach the bazaar, located right next to the Flower Market in Eminönü.
- Ferry: You can arrive at Eminönü by using boats and ferries from Üsküdar, Kadıköy and Bostancı.
- City Bus: You can reach the bazaar by using 37 E Yıldıztabya-Eminönü, EM 1 and EM 2 Eminönü-Kulaksız, 38 Gaziosmanpaşa State Hospital-Eminönü, 36 KE Karadeniz Mahallesi-Eminönü line numbered IETT buses.
Or you can reach the Spice Bazaar by car rental Istanbul rather than Istanbul’s crowded public transportation options.
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