ISTANBUL: PART 5

 On the final day of touring in Istanbul, we were treated to a presentation on Turkish rug making, following which we were encouraged to wander through the Grand Bazaar, and then visited the  city's Spice Market.

Turkish Rugs.

Our group met at one of the rug merchants and enjoyed a highly educational lecture and explanation of the variables that can go into the production of handmade rugs.  It was quite impressive and included not just a demonstration of how hand-tied rugs are made but also a display of truly beautiful rugs.  

A finely made rug, say 5 ft. by 8 ft., might contain over a million hand-tied knots and take upwards of a year to make.

Grand Bazaar.

After the presentation we were free to wanter around in the Grand Bazaar, containing some 4,000 shops all under one enclosed area.  These are, of course, small shops, but what was amazing was that there might be, say, 8 to 10 shops in a row selling more or less the same merchandise, e.g.,  jewelry.  Here is a sampling.

Yes, there were shops that only sold chess sets.

This last was a shop that only sold discs each containing a representation of the evil eye.

Spice Market.

Later, we walked from the Grand Bazaar to the Spice Market.

The question I kept asking myself when touring the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market was, "Who is buying all this stuff?"  There seemed to be an enormous mismatch between the amount of merchandise and the number of shoppers.

John