Spice Bazaar & the New Mosque
Why is it significant?
Walk into the vaulted hall of the Spice Bazaar and breathe in: cinnamon, saffron, sumac, dried roses, Turkish delight dusted with sugar, and the dark smell of roasting coffee drifting in from the street outside.
Key Facts
| Place | Spice Bazaar & the New Mosque |
|---|---|
| Address | Rüstem Paşa, Erzak Ambarı Sokak No:92, 34116 Fatih/İstanbul, Türkiye |
| Geo Coordinates | 41.01660, 28.97100 |
| Part of Walk | Sinan's City: Istanbul from the Grand Bazaar to Süleymaniye |
| Generated | Generated |
Walk into the vaulted hall of the Spice Bazaar and breathe in: cinnamon, saffron, sumac, dried roses, Turkish delight dusted with sugar, and the dark smell of roasting coffee drifting in from the street outside. Then walk out of the far gate, and the courtyard of a great mosque opens in front of you, full of pigeons.
The two belong together. The mosque is the Yeni Cami, the New Mosque, and the bazaar was built as part of its complex, so the rents of the spice merchants would pay for it. Turks call the market Mısır Çarşısı, the Egyptian Bazaar, usually explained by the goods that arrived through Cairo, or by the Egyptian revenues that helped fund the complex.
New is a funny word for a mosque begun in 1597. It was started by Safiye Sultan, the powerful mother of Mehmed III. To make room for it, a Jewish Karaite community living on this waterfront was moved elsewhere. When Safiye lost her influence, the work stopped and the walls stood half-built for decades. Another mother of a sultan, Turhan Hatice Sultan, finished it in 1665, with the bazaar rising beside it in the same years. Two women, sixty years apart, gave the city its most famous waterfront silhouette.
Step into the courtyard and look back up the hill. From here you can trace the whole walk: the minarets of the Süleymaniye on the ridge, the dome of Rüstem Paşa below it, and somewhere behind, the bazaar and the column where you began. Byzantine forum, Ottoman Baroque, Sinan's classical calm, and this late, grand mosque by the sea.
Now turn towards the water. Ferries hoot, fishermen line the Galata Bridge, and the smell of grilled fish rises from the quay. This is where İstanbul has always come to trade, to pray and to cross. Buy a little bag of something from the bazaar, sit on the steps of the New Mosque, and watch the city do what it has been doing for centuries.