The Grand Bazaar

The Grand Bazaar is amazing. It was established in 1453 by Mehmet II and the architecture is almost my favorite part. It is one giant building, the size of several city blocks, surrounded by a medieval wall with 15 gates (as far as I can tell). The gates are all numbered and my favorite area was around gate 12. It is a quiet area, but compared with the rest of the bazaar anything would be. There are antique shops, precious gem merchants and beads sold by the gram.

Each area of the bazaar has a different specialty. There are some items that are sold throughout the bazaar, but some shops are located in only one part. In the section with leather works you can easily go from shop to shop, comparing colors, style, quality and price before settling down to bargain with a merchant. I bought a round leather footrest, which was fun to bargain for. By the end of my stay in Morocco I grew to like haggling over prices and was so disappointed to go back to shopping in American grocery stores where nobody would let me argue the price of tomatoes.

I am back in a country where buying things is more time consuming, which probably cuts down on excess spending and consumerism. It was more fun to walk through the bazaar and look at everything that to go in all the shops to try to buy stuff. The jewelry area was so glittery we had to wander down a side alley where they sold scarves and other textiles. The carpets are beautiful and the ceramics are incredible. I managed not to buy any, but I made a mental note of what I’m going back for. I’ll have to take a backpack with me because carrying heavy pottery all the way back to my apartment would wear my arms out.

In some ways the Grand Bazaar reminded me of the souk in Marrakech. There was a musical instrument shop very similar to the one my cousin Isaac looked for a guitar at in Morocco. The scarves and tourist trinkets were similar. It was the building that was so different. The souk is a maze, while the bazaar is well laid out with clean, tiled passages in a fairly grid-like pattern. The ceilings are vaulted and lined with mosaics. The fountains are obviously ancient and look like they were meant for washing before prayers.

We wandered for hours and though we passed through many alleys repeatedly, I am sure there are still plenty of places we didn’t get to. I’ll just have to go back.