Spice Bazaar
There are several documents suggesting the name of the bazaar was first "New Bazaar". The building was endowed to the
foundation of the
New Mosque, and got its name "Egyptian Bazaar" (
Turkish:
Mısır Çarşısı) because it was built with the revenues from the
Ottoman eyalet of
Egypt in 1660.
[1] The word
mısır has a double meaning in Turkish: "
Egypt" and "
maize". This is why sometimes the name is wrongly translated as "Corn Bazaar". The bazaar was (and still is) the center for
spice trade in Istanbul, but in the last years more and more shops of other type are replacing the spice shops.
[1]
The building itself is part of the
külliye (complex) of the
New Mosque. The revenues obtained from the rented shops inside the bazaar building were used for the upkeeping of the
mosque.
The structure was designed by the court architect
Koca Kasım Ağa, but the construction works began under the supervision of another court architect, Mustafa Ağa, in the last months of 1660; following the Great Fire of Istanbul (1660) that began on 24 July 1660 and, lasting for slightly more than two days (circa 49 hours, according to the chronicles of Abdi Pasha),
[2] destroyed many neighbourhoods in the city.
[2][3][4] A major rebuilding and redevelopment effort started in the city following the fire, which included the resumption of the
New Mosque's construction works in 1660 (halted between 1603 and 1660, the construction of the mosque was ultimately completed between 1660 and 1665) and the beginning of the Spice Bazaar's construction in the same year (all buildings in the New Mosque
külliye, including the Spice Bazaar, were commissioned by
Sultana Turhan Hatice, the
Valide Sultan (Queen Mother) of Sultan
Mehmed IV.)
[2][4]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice_Bazaar,_Istanbul
