Inside Istanbul’s historic Spice Bazaar
If you ever visit the city of Istanbul without taking time out to see the spice bazaar, your visit would definitely be incomplete. It is simply irresistible, full of different spices. A Turkish trader, Hafiz Hamman, welcomed us into the bazaar, saying gleefully: “Come here for smells, sights, and food wonders.”
When we arrived Istanbul on a three-day visit sponsored by Turkish Airlines, Spice Bazaar was among the selected tourist sites deemed fit by the airlines for our viewing pleasure. And honestly, we were not disappointed a bit as the place looked beautiful although crowded with different colours of spices, perfumes and textiles adorning everywhere.
Traders here are of the view that there are no known leaves, roots or herbs that are not available in the market. They confidently talked about the efficacies of leaves in curing all ailments and sustaining lives. These leaves are mostly ground and stored in different bottles with instruction and usefulness labels attached to them.
At one of the stores we visited, we were told of the history of the bazaar by the shop attendants as well as offered some free samples to taste.
And like shrewd businessmen, if you did not show any interest of buying, you would be offered a discount on every purchase, and if this still did not do the magic, you would be given cards showing all the items the store has in stock with e-mails and phone contacts, should you need to order for any of them back in your home country.
The spices are attractively packaged in different colours. Some of the spices are cooking additives with flavours left for the imagination. There are also tea leaves, said to be medicinal. In fact, it is all spices, nature and its curative in Istanbul spice bazaar.
Aside spices, the bazaar is full of colourful textiles, perfumes and merchandise. Plainclothes policemen are seen at major intersections at the market, apparently to see that there is no breach of security.
This market shares something similar with a typical Nigerian market in the sense that traders woo people to come in and buy things in their various shops; with each one of them trying to outdo the other to capture the attention of potential customers, with the aim of convincing them to buy their goods.
Language is a major problem here as most of the traders do not speak English. For those who can speak English, they speak it with delight but with a heavy Turkish accent, and visitors have no choice than to strain their ears to pick and understand every spoken word.
Sometimes, gesticulations do the magic as both sellers and buyers bargain on choices of wares and prices. Just like in some major markets in Nigeria, prices of commodities are not fixed, one can bargain for items freely, which sometimes leads to over-pricing and under-pricing, depending on one`s ability to determine the quality and content of whatever one is buying.
A colleague, Cool Coffee, from Freedom Radio, Kano, lamented how he bought a veil for his wife worth about N6000. He said: “I realised so late that this cost me about N6000. Back home, I think this should not be more than N2000. I was so carried away by the frenzy of the bazaar. This must have happened to so many people.”
And then, the Turkish traders themselves welcomed us with smiles and enthusiasm. Being black and about 10 in number,
wading through the nooks and crannies of the market, we were the cynosure of all eyes. We stood out among the crowd and then they were curious to know our countries of origin. Some took a sharp look at us, not wanting us to know they were staring at us, while others decided to look away totally to avoid creating any impression.
We got a new friend in Istanbul’s bazaar. The Turkish trader had enquired about our country of origin. The mere mention of Nigeria excited the Turk, who suddenly and surprisingly started praising Nigerian footballers. He said Nigeria is a great country with talented footballers.
He kept saying in smattering English: “Nigeria, good country; Amokachi, a good footballer. I love him and miss his great football skills.”
We were all happy to see this coming from a foreign national, in spite of all the negative reports being reported about Nigeria daily by the foreign media. It was indeed a consolation for us, and we wasted no time in taking pictures with him.
Maintenance of the market is worthy of emulation by us here in Nigeria. It is neat, with not even a single litter. One is surprised how they are able to achieve this state of near perfection. The walkways are tarred; so no matter how you navigate the bazaar you won’t get your shoes or clothes dusty or dirty. Also, wares are diligently displayed, neatly arranged in the shops in such a way that one finds it so confusing to decide which one to enter as each shop is as inviting as the other.
The bazaar is not without its negative sides though. One can buy wares that are fake, only to realise it when it is too late. The name of the market has given it so much fame that people regard all they see and buy there as the best Turkey can offer. This writer hurriedly bought a belt, that did not last a week. History of Spice Bazaar The Spice Bazaar is one of the largest bazaars in the city of Instanbul. The Egyptian Spice Bazaar in Istanbul has been selling nuts, fruits and spices since 1664.
During the Byzantine period, there was another bazaar, (not the Spice Bazaar) where merchants from Genoa and Venice, Italy, sold their goods. It was the trading place of the spices brought from Egypt. Therefore, it is also known as the ‘Egyptian Bazaar.’ It is opposite the Galata Bridge in the Eminonu quay. It was constructed with the objective of financing the costs of a new mosque complex. It was completed in 1660. It includes approximately 80 shops. It has a reverse ‘L’ shape and is covered with domes. It has six gates to different directions.
Many types of spices and healing herbs can be found in the Spice Bazaar. These can be bought in readymade packs or by weigh-out of big sacks. Besides the spices, cheese, dried meat, jam, many types of nuts, Turkish delight, natural sponges for bathing, oriental perfumes are all among specialties of the spice bazaar. As in the covered bazaar, one should have a sense of quality for shopping and bargain with the shopkeeper. In the market the atmosphere is more oriental than that of the covered bazaar. But surroundings of the market
Many types of spices and healing
herbs can be found in the Spice
Bazaar. These can be bought in readymade packs or by weigh-out of
big sacks
are definitely more interesting. There is a flower and pet market.
Tourists’ views on Spice Bazaar
Malik Salim, a tourist from Libya, says this about the spice bazaar: “The variety of spices, foodstuff, and tea are excellent. This is a small place but you can spend hours looking at all the colours, sampling the spices and dried fruit and even trying some tea. This is a great place to spend a few hours. Note that they will vacuum-seal things for your take home and on weekends.”
Abulrahman Yusuf, who said he hailed from Tunisia, but is based in Cyprus, described the bazaar as magnificent. “The spices, Turkish delights, sponges, tea, as well as souvenirs, are excellent. We purchased a few of the spices, particularly saffron, then for the tea we chose the apple tea. The varying flavours of the Turkish delight are excellent; we were given samples of so many to test, and we purchased a few boxes.”
Margaret George said: “This is such a great place to visit; incredible amount of great spices and food, so many shops. The place itself has lots of history from the Ottoman Empire. Better than the Grand Bazaar in many respects. Interesting collection of spices; lots of souvenirs, I think cheaper than Grand Bazaar. Buy Turkish delights from here; some yummy collection they got there.”
She adds: “As beautiful as it is to visit, the spice bazaar is a tourist trap. We left 50 euros in several spices, nuts and other berries to realise that their quality is not at all what it seemed to be. The only advice I would give is for one to buy only what one tastes (mainly Turkish delights).”
Bashir Hamman, from Djibouti, described the market as an exciting place to visit by all lovers of good things. “This is a must-see place. This is a huge market for tea, lokums and spices. It’s very close to the Galata Bridge and it is closed on Sundays. Prices are not fixed and you can try everything for free except baklava. Spices, tea and lokum are cheapest here.
“It is really an interesting place with loads of local colour; best to wander outside the main market and have a look at the varied stalls and shops surrounding the market and mosque.”