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Western travelers who have seen the Grand Bazaar..
were amazed at the abundance,richness and diversity the saw here.
Even those who grew up in renowned castles of the world were fascinated...
by this bazaar that was "a city founded for commarical activities"
Acting as a passage and commerical center between the East and the west...
the Bazaar of the Empire is sofull with the best of a diversity of goods...
such az bronze and mother of pearl products,perfumes and weapons...
certain foreignrs considered it as "a museum selling its collection"
Until the final quarter of the 19th Centruy the Bazaar was..
rich enough to outclass the two greaters epicenters of capital...
of the west like parls and London in terms of the goods on sade and the services rendered.
19 th century was the period wheb the west got hold of world markets all the way to China and India...
gathered a considerable amount of capital and restored its cities all over again.
The judgment made by an authot of the period...
after comparing the Istanbul Bazaar with London and Paris is quite an interesting criterion for us.
The main reason why foreigners found the Covered Bazaar superior to...
the Palats Royale of Paris and arcades of London ...
Is that the commerical centers of the new world were dull and lanquild.
due to the geopolitical location and social composition of the countries...
although they were rich,civillzed and imposing as they are today.
However,the Grand Bazaar of Ýstanbul is like a daytime performence...
put on by travelers of severed of several nations both from the East and west coming and leaving each day.
Spoken languages,all dialects of Asia,Europe and Africa...
turn the Bazaar into a natural masquerade or an opera stage.
put on by travelers of severed of several nations both from the East and west coming and leaving each day.
Spoken languages,all dialects of Asia,Europe and Africa...
turn the Bazaar into a natural masquerade or an opera stage.
Istanbul's covered bazaar is a fairy tale land for the westemer.
Perisan swords,Tatar bows and arrows,Arabian spears and daggers...
turquolses from Neyshabur pearls from Bahrain,Diamonds froom Golconda...
blakets from Ankara,Afghan fabrics Indian musllns...
linen from England and Germany,and steel from Sweden.
This is the Kesan fabric traditionally used in dally attire in the Black Sea Region.
But this bazaar is much more superlor to other bazaars...
of well known centers and cities of the East.
According to westemers whoo have seen them as well...
they looked like poor,miniature and imitative dally markets...
compared to the nobie,massive and majestic bazaar of Istanbul.
That is natural,because although it may sound odd now...
all the Asian and African centers and cities mentioned...
were provinces of Istanbul,as romete citires and towns then.
And it was improssible for provinces to surpass the crown city.
The Grand Bazaar meant everything for Istanbul.
After entering from one of its Gates it is possible...
for all,men and woman,young and old,rich and poor...
to dress up from head to toe,to buy all kids of omamenths and jewelery...
to tumish one's home from and to and to buy a bouch of roses fort he loved one...
or to by weapons fort he war.
One of the few travelers who informs us about the princes of the period...
besides the richnness of the bazaar was renowned Charles Fellows.
According to his words the weapons market was as rich as a museum but not very crowded.
The most frequented places were crowded lanes..
the jevelers "and fabric sellers" market.
Fellows says that locals spent a lot of momey on clothing..
that they always wore their best clothes...
and therefore fur and clothing were very expensive in the Covered Bazaar.
As a bazaar with such a high sales turnover and volume...
having a shop or a stand on its grounds was an indication of weaith.
Until the 1894 earthquake and the following restoration...
and party until the econumic development in period of 1950s...
Bazaar's working,sales and display layout was its most important feature...
Even at the very begining there were a series of shops outside its walls...
that cerated a more appealling,charming and splendid look...
rather than the building and its exterior appearance...
Both sides of the lanes were lined up with no windows of curtains...
vendors sitting on them and shelves or cupboards standing on the rear wall.
The buyer would sit on the cot with the shopkeeper.
examine the product he or she would buuy...
and have a nice chat with the vendor having coffee and smoking a pipe.
At some stands,there were small stools before the cot fort he buyers.
Everything they was on display on the shelves and in glass cases.
Faceted crystal pitchers,silver mirrors,velvet boxers,lines of pearl...
statuettes made oof jade,porceiain,fine chinaware,glass jars...
But the really valuable goods were the small but expensive ones.
Not only them either.
The most valuable ones were kept in drawers...
and were shown to the keen and expert buyers who could afford them.
Foreigners also realized that this kind of display
where the goods were lined up on shelves to be seen by the naked eye...
in a rich but simple and layout...
instead of using protective cases made of glass,wooden or iron...
was actually commercial invention that would increase demand and seles.
All those alluring goods lined up on both sides of the lane...
on display on shelves a long the walls such as...
velvets from Bursa,fabrics from iran and India,jars from China...
glassware from Bohemia and Venice,toys from Germany...
spread before the eyes like slorful fans dazzled the buyer.
The goods on display were not only on shelves.
Fabric sellers used to hong down their material...
on the shutters or the iron bars that supported the vaults.
Those multicolored silks,mulins,satins fine fabrics...
reflected the daylight coming from the windows behind them...
spreading the colors of the rainbow on the lane in a motley gleam...
painting the passers by like the characters of a fairy tale land.
The richness of the Bazaar was a reflection and outcome of the Empire...
but did not have a matching and.
the covered bazaar lost nothing of its tumover and richness of goods...
even after the state lost its power and superionty to nearby forces...
an daven its independance and social productiveness.
on the contraty,tha splendor of the bazaar increased...
until everything in the state and the society was exhausted all sounds and music were silenced.
That was about the and of the 19th century.