Ottoman Cultures, July 2013: Monday, July 8: Istanbul

Lawren, Pat, Shauna, Lori and I spent the morning at the Grand Bazaar, a well-organized (and at the same time confusing) network of stall-like shops arranged by type of goods sold: leather, furs, fabrics, carpets, gold, silver, antiques, and clothing, among others. Along some of the "streets" is was cool and breezy, but others felt closed-in and smelled like cigarette smoke. We were continuously invited to come in "just to take a look" but we stayed with our agenda pretty effectively... not that we weren't tempted!

The entrance we used was at the end of a tree-lined path. This is the outer archway.

This inner archway opens out into the bazaar itself. I am going to have to check to see exactly which of the gates this is, as there's no Kapalicarsi on either of the maps I have.

An open and more airy street in a newer section of the Bazaar.

So much gold all in one place.

The variety of scarves, wraps, and other fabrics is incredible.

There's plenty of inventory in every shop.

The clothing worn by shoppers ranges from casual to conservative, contemporary to traditional.

Any ideas?

Garlic shampoo!

Lamps and other glassware are widely available.

Many sellers will ship your purchase to your home using DHL or FedEx(?).

This is a member of the Market Police; I have also seen Traffic Police officers -- or, perhaps, they were members of the Tourist Police.

These are puppets.

Images of dervishes are available in many forms, including drawings, sculpture,

metal work, and ceramic.

This shop is one of many that sells chess sets, available in "Ottomans vs. Crusaders," "Hitler vs. Roosevelt," and other traditional adversaries.

The Marble Fountain, where a man is washing his hands.

I'm not sure if this shop is for wrestlers, owned by wrestlers, or something else entirely. There was an LA Lakers uniform on prominent display, however.

This shops sells clothing for young boys who are either being circumcised or celebrating their circumcisions. The intention is to make the child look and feel like a sultan. I did see a young boy on the street wearing circumcision party clothing yesterday.