Shopping Guide for Istanbul, Turkey
Think of shopping in Istanbul and it is probably the Grand Bazaar that first springs to mind.

The Grand Bazaar first saw its beginnings as 2 wooden bedestans, or warehouses with individual cells for stalls, named the Cevahir Bedesten and Sandal Bedesten, erected during Mehmet the Conqueror's reign towards the end of the fifteenth century. The chance of being destroyed by fire necessitated that they be rebuilt in stone and they have since been absorbed into the core of the Bazaar today. Originally its profits were to go to compensate the ongoing expenses of the Aya Sophia. It invariably grew and expanded, as did its trade, incorporating more and more shops into its environs. Today it covers an entire area of 30 hectares and has almost 4400 shops, 40 hans (a type of night stop-over where dealers could unload their wares) and encompasses over 60 streets.
Its nucleus consists of 3 parallel streets between Nurosmaniye and Beyazit, the first comprising mostly of jewelery outlets, the second of carpets, and the third of textiles. In the days gone by, each class of wares operated under a traditional guild system whereby one stall having reached a particular target sale that day would then direct further customers to other stalls in that guild. In this way they supported each others trade and formed a closely knit family. However this tradition no longer continues today.

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