The Hans Behind the Grand Bazaar

Begin at the heart of the Grand Bazaar, the bedesten around which it grew. In the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, Semavi Eyice explains that this trading centre between the Beyazıt and Nuruosmaniye mosques formed around two bedestens, or covered halls. The older, the Cevahir Bedesteni, stands in the middle of today's bazaar. It has fifteen domes, was built by Mehmed the Conqueror after the conquest and was first called the Bezzazistan, the cloth market. The Sandal Bedesteni towards Nuruosmaniye has twenty domes. Its date is disputed, but Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi identified it in foundation records of 1478-1479, and it is generally attributed to the Conqueror's reign.

The bazaar grew over the centuries as streets of shops and hans were added around these two cores. The shape you walk through today, though, was largely set by two disasters. The 1894 earthquake badly damaged the building; in the repairs that followed the bazaar's boundaries were drawn in and about half of the surrounding hans were left outside. A fire on 26 November 1954 destroyed two-fifths of the structure, and the restoration took five years, ending on 28 July 1959.

Stand for a few minutes under the domes of the Cevahir Bedesteni and look at the piers that carry them; the rest of the bazaar spread out around this core. Then look into the twenty-domed Sandal Bedesteni and compare the two. After that, walk to the northern part of the bazaar and the Zincirli Han. Leaving the covered streets for the hans is the best way to see how this once single world of trade has been divided. The streets look alike, so follow the main alleys and gate names to keep your bearings, and check current opening days and hours in the bazaar's official announcements.

Source: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi (Büyük Çarşı).

In the northern part of the Grand Bazaar, reached through a courtyard off the shopping streets, the Zincirli Han is one of the best known hans still inside the bazaar's limits. KÜRE Encyclopedia describes it as an Ottoman commercial han of 1708 with a single courtyard and two storeys, and Wikipedia gives the same date. The main block is arranged on two floors around a broad rectangular courtyard, and from its south-east side you pass into a small open square section.

This is the quietest and most modest stop on the route, which makes it a good place to read the basic layout of a han. Step into the middle of the courtyard and look around. The ground-floor openings lead into shops, the upper-floor arcades into workshops. With its rubble-stone walls, brick arches and green shutters, the building has the scale of an everyday workplace rather than the grandeur of the great hans. Keep that scale in mind to compare with the three courtyards of the Büyük Valide Han and the long courtyard of the Büyük Yeni Han further on.

The han's real identity is the work that goes on inside. According to KÜRE, crafts such as carpet dealing, coppersmithing, carpet repair, antiques, jewellery making and goldsmithing were carried on here, and they continue today; Wikipedia notes jewellers' shops on the ground floor and workshops upstairs. Pause in the arcade and watch the craftsmen from a distance, but ask before taking photographs. From here, leave the bazaar by the Mahmutpaşa Gate, pass north of the Nuruosmaniye Mosque and the Çuhacı Han at the top of Mahmutpaşa Yokuşu, and head downhill.

Source: KÜRE Ansiklopedisi; Wikipedia.

At the top of Mahmutpaşa Yokuşu, pass the Çuhacı Han north of the Nuruosmaniye Mosque and head downhill to reach the Kürkçü Han. First a word on the Çuhacı Han: according to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, it was built between 1718 and 1730 by Nevşehirli Damad İbrahim Pasha, grand vizier to Ahmed III. It took its name from the broadcloth merchants and their guild who gathered here, was damaged in the great Hocapaşa fire of 1750, and in the 19th century jewellers took the merchants' place.

The Kürkçü Han is far older. According to TDV, it was built in the second half of the 15th century, in the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror, as part of the foundation of the grand vizier Mahmud Pasha, and it is one of the city's first commercial hans. The Mahmutpaşa bath, part of the same complex, is a few steps away.

The han has two parts and measures about 128 by 68 metres overall. The first part is a regular square, with two storeys of rooms around a central courtyard; the second part to the north has an irregular plan. TDV writes that the original building had 127 rooms, close to the figure of 120 given by Evliya Çelebi. In the courtyard is a small masjid built by Hacı Küçük Ahmed Ağa. After major earthquakes, the supports of the arcades were rebuilt as stone piers.

More than five centuries of use have left their mark. Parts were demolished and additions spoiled the original architecture; in 2002 TDV noted that the building was neglected and had recently been partly cleaned and restored. According to Wikipedia, part of the han today belongs to the General Directorate of Foundations and part to private owners, and it is filled mainly with shops selling wool and haberdashery. Step into the large courtyard to feel its 15th-century scale, then walk west towards Çakmakçılar Yokuşu.

Source: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi; Wikipedia.

Walk west from the Kürkçü Han onto Çakmakçılar Yokuşu and you see a long facade beside the slope. The Büyük Yeni Han was commissioned by Sultan Mustafa III to provide income for his foundations; the land was assembled from 1761 through exchanges with existing foundations, and the building was completed in 1177 AH (1763-1764). The architect is unknown, but the name of the building supervisor, Şehremini Haşim Ali Bey, appears again and again in the records. According to Wikipedia it is the second largest building of its kind in Istanbul after the Büyük Valide Han.

What sets it apart is its shape. The rooms are arranged in three storeys around a long, narrow courtyard. TDV describes two courtyards separated by a cross wing, measuring 42 by 15 and 25 by 12-15 metres, while Wikipedia counts the whole courtyard as about 85 metres long. Walk in and look down its narrow length; the three tiers of arcades receding one after another make one of the most memorable views on the route. Notice the walls of alternating light and dark stone and the upper-floor projections jutting out over the street below. The stone birdhouse with its mashallah inscription at the corner of Sandalyeciler Sokağı is the han's small surprise.

In its early years the han mostly housed moneychangers; a register of 1780 cited by Wikipedia shows moneychangers in 74 of its rooms. According to TDV, the Emniyet Sandığı, a state savings and loan fund, also operated here from 1868 to 1927, and weaving workshops and small manufacturers moved in later. Today the han is still full of shops and businesses. As you walk the arcades, do not block the doorways and give way to porters on the stairs.

Source: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi; Wikipedia.

Climb a little further up Çakmakçılar Yokuşu and you reach the Büyük Valide Han, its main facade running along the slope. The TDV Encyclopedia of Islam describes it as Istanbul's largest commercial building by area. It was commissioned by Kösem Valide Sultan to fund her charities, especially the Çinili Mosque in Üsküdar. Sources differ on the date: TDV places its construction in the reign of her son Murad IV (1632-1640), while Wikipedia gives 1651. The site was previously occupied by the palace of Cerrah Mehmed Pasha.

The han is built around three courtyards. Through the gate you first enter an irregular, roughly triangular courtyard; from there you pass into the large main courtyard, about 55 metres a side, and finally into a smaller third courtyard. Ground-floor rooms are vaulted and upper-floor rooms domed, and TDV puts the number of rooms at about 210. Look for the stone tower rising from one of the courtyards. A survivor of the Byzantine period, it measures 12 by 12 metres and stands about 25 metres high according to TDV, and it can be picked out even from the Galata Bridge.

For centuries the han was a meeting point of long-distance trade. TDV writes that Iranian and Azerbaijani merchants lodged here and that Iranian printers working inside the han produced printed books. According to Wikipedia, from the 19th century the han was used mainly by Iranian merchants importing carpets and silk; today it is occupied by businesses and workshops. Over time the arcades of the second courtyard were closed in by new construction and the third courtyard filled with additions, and in 1989 TDV noted that the building had badly deteriorated. As you walk through, study the different shapes of the three courtyards and the masonry of the tower. After finishing here, you can walk down Uzunçarşı to Eminönü.

Source: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi; Wikipedia.