Spice Bazaar
Egypt bankrolled this market in 1660 — and its name still trips up translators today.
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Built with revenues from the Ottoman province of Egypt, the bazaar's Turkish name Mısır Çarşısı doubles as "Corn Bazaar" because mısır means both "Egypt" and "maize." Commissioned by Queen Mother Sultana Turhan Hatice and structurally part of the New Mosque külliye, its shop rents historically funded mosque upkeep. Spice sellers are gradually being replaced by sweets, jewellery, and souvenir stalls.
What to look for
- The New Mosque wall — the bazaar is physically part of its külliye, not a freestanding building
- The slow takeover: traditional spice mounds giving way to Turkish delight, dried fruits, and souvenir shops
- 85 shops in total, spanning spices, nuts, sweets, and jewellery
In the Eminönü quarter of Fatih district; the most famous covered shopping complex in Istanbul after the Grand Bazaar.
Spice Bazaar is one of 39 sights worth the detour in Istanbul, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Istanbul pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Istanbul
- Hagia SophiaCompleted in 537, it held the title of world's largest church for over 500 years — then a mosque, a museum, and a mosque again.
- Constantinople (Istanbul)One peninsula that served as the throne of four empires for sixteen centuries straight.
- Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque)Ahmed I placed it directly opposite Hagia Sophia in 1609 and gave it six minarets — a deliberate challenge to the city's greatest building.
- Topkapı PalaceFor nearly four centuries, the sultans who ruled the Ottoman Empire lived and governed from here — until the court finally moved to Dolmabahçe in 1856.
- ByzantiumGreeks from Megara planted a colony here in the 7th century BC — and the name they gave it eventually became the word for an entire empire.
- Rams Park (Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex)Galatasaray's 53,978-seat fortress on the European side of Istanbul — and the second most eco-friendly stadium on the planet.