Istanbul: Kapalıçarşı (Grand Bazaar)

The magnificent Covered Bazaar (Kapalicarsi), which stands in one of the oldest settlements of the city's European shore, has always been a favourite with foreign visitors.
The story goes that the bazaar began as two vaulted halls built by Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror (1451 -1481) to provide an income for the Hagia Sophia Mosque, and gradually turned into a commercial centre as traders began to display their wares on counters around these two stone buildings.
The present alleys and galleries emerged as these areas were roofed over by tiled vaults.
First-time visitors to the Covered Bazaar are astounded by its splendour and size (30.7 hectares).
The bazaar contains 4,000 shops, 25,000 full-time staff, 61 streets and even two mosques, and looks as much to the present as it does to the past. In the jewellers' shops, bedecked with gold, silver and precious stones, you can find all kinds of valuable decorative items, from antique jewels to modern pendants.
Goods from all the regions that make up the brightly coloured tapestry that is modern Turkey are sold in the famous rug and carpet shops. As well as giftware made of pottery, wicker, wood, copper and silver; the Covered Bazaar is also a centre for leather goods and accessories, but believe me they are awfully tacky.
Fashion, design and modernity aren’t words for them at all. They are really good in handcraft and ethnical articles