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The Grand Bazaar
The
Grand Bazaar (Kapalicarsi in Turkish) is one of the the largest covered
markets in the world There are thousands of things you can find and purchase in the Grand Bazaar. The gate that one usually enters into the bazaar is called "Nuruosmaniye Gate" that means "the light of the Ottomans". That takes you directly to a shining street full of jewelry stores. Jewelry is one of the things could be purchased. Gold prices are not low but due to the lower workmanship costs, you may find a huge variety of gold, precious stones and semi precious stones like sapphire, ruby or emeralds at reasonable prices. Bargaining is always possible. Before you purchase, it's recommended to ask more than 3-4 shops so that you can get the best price. The main street goes all the way up till the other exit and it's all full of jewelry stores....
Other
than those of higher value items, there are good leather shops in the
Bazaar. Leather could As you see, it's a real fun to stroll around the bazaar and explore small and humble shops which offers you lots of beautiful souvenir items for your pleasure. You should definitely go and experience this fun.
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with its 4400 shops, 3000 firms, some 17 hans (separate inns for
specific type of products), 64 streets,25.000 employees, 4 fountains, 2
mosques and 22 gates. It's a real heaven for shoppers and a good
opportunity for people to discover the Turkish hospitality. It looks
like a labyrinth at first sight but it's actually not that complicated.
All you have to do is to keep your eyes on the main street
(Kalpakcilarbasi Street, the jewelry street). The Bazaar was first
constructed in 1464 with the order of Mehmed II 'the Conqueror' and had
many restorations over the years due to the extensive fires and
destructive earthquakes. There are tens of cafés, a police station,
little mosques, tourists information points in the bazaar. 
Another
item which is important to our culture is carpets.
When you're walking on the streets in the Bazaar, some people might
approach you and invite you to see their collections of carpets. They
are commission-men and if you like them you can go to the shops they
mention but you may also reject them. They seem insistent but if you
don't care about them, they go away. Carpet shops are usually spread out
to smaller parallel streets and the purchasing decision is usually very
hard. When you walk into a carpet shop, you're first offered coffee, tea
or coke without any obligation of buying usually with a warm smile. The
carpets are from several different regions of Turkey and the salesman
tells about them one by one starting from less quality ones to higher
quality (higher price of course!) ones. Bartering with them is a real
fun!
be found in a han on the left hand side of the main street called
"Leather Goods Section". There are also good ceramic items, wall plates
and good tile plates. You may also find silverware, copperware, fake
brand t-shirts like Tommy Hilfiger as well as good Istanbul or Turkey
t-shirts all around the bazaar. There are also belly-dancers costumes
and traditional folkloric costumes. As you walk into deeper sides of the
bazaar, you may explore heavens of religious icons, antique or used
watches or old pages of calligraphies. One cheaper thing is the amber
stone. You may find beautiful amber-stone work in the bazaar.
