The Egyptian Bazaar
Spice Bazaar, one of the important historical and touristic trade centers of Istanbul, was built as the middle ground of the New Mosque complex in order to cover the expenses of the mosque. In 1660, Sultan IV. Its construction was started by Hassa Chief Architect Kâzım Ağa upon the order of Mehmet's mother, Turhan Sultan, and was completed in 1664 by Hassa Chief Architect Mustafa Ağa.
The bazaar was called Yeni Çarşı and Valide Çarşısı by 17th century historians. However, the bazaar, which was built with taxes collected from Egypt, began to be called the Spice Bazaar since the mid-18th century, since the products sold in its shops were mostly goods and spices coming from Egypt.
In its early years, the bazaar was allocated to herbalist and cotton merchants. The bazaar has six gates; the Fish Market, Hasırcılar and Ketenciler gates are for herbalists; Yeni Mosque, Haseki and Flower Market gates are reserved for cotton farmers. The upper floors of the main entrance gates at both ends of the bazaar were used as Commercial Courts, which dealt with the legal problems experienced by the bazaar tradesmen among themselves and the public.
There are wooden benches in the front of the shops in the bazaar, and a warehouse and workshop in the back. On the eaves of some shops, there are fire towers, boats, ostrich eggs, scissors, tassels, etc. symbolizing the shop. a symbol is used; In this way, recognition of the shops is made easier.
In the Spice Bazaar, which hosts thousands of local and foreign visitors every day, there are shops selling mainly spices and Turkish delight, as well as jewelery and souvenir shops.
Source Türkiye Culture Portal History of Istanbul