Markets to visit Turkey

During the Byzantine period, it was a market where Venetians and Genoese came to sell rare spices, hence its other name spice market. Built on an L-shaped plan, it has four main entrances and more than 100 shops where a thousand and one spices, honeys, cheeses, from all the Turkish provinces, flowers, aphrodisiac mixtures, dried meats and even domestic animals are traded. Restored in 1943, this market is strongly imbued with the oriental atmosphere with its colours and smells, much more exotic than that of the Grand Bazaar, which has become the centre of jewellers and carpet merchants. That being said, jewellers are gaining a little more ground each year.

Be sure to visit the adjacent streets outside the bazaar. Pass on the left the flower and bird market to get lost in the alleys at the back. The many itinerant merchants present a very picturesque world where electronic devices, tools, perfumes are sold in a jumble... If you want to buy Turkish coffee, you can go to the Kuru Kahveci Mehmet Efendi. No need for an address, the shop is in front of the market, on the right wing: just follow the smell. If there's a problem, ask, the whole neighborhood knows it. Coffee is sold by weight: you go to the counter from the outside and choose one of the packages that are ready for sale.

This 13th century Seljuk caravanserai is very well restored and has a soothing and mystical atmosphere. The building has kept its superb allure. A whirling dervish show takes place every day at 6pm or 9pm, lasting one hour. This is one of the best places to observe the spiritual dance of the dervishes. Note that the place is a bit out of the way, it is more convenient to buy the tickets in advance through an agency that also offers a bus service to get there.

Kayseri was a stopover for the caravans that travelled the silk routes. The renovated bazaar (1859) is next to the citadel. It is the second of the country after that of Ankara. The atmosphere is traditional, with a wide variety of excellent quality carpets, cheaper than elsewhere in the country. Note the Bedesten (1497), a closed building, reserved in Ottoman times for precious goods. Today there are merchants of carpets, kilims and pastırma. Nearby is the Vezirhanı built in 1727 by Damat Ibrahim Paşa.

This is a beautiful example of a Seljuk caravanserai, built in 1229. Burned down, the building was rebuilt 50 years later and has been recently restored. There is a beautiful carved portal, in the center of the courtyard, an oratory(mescid), a huge pillared hall(ahır), a hammam, rooms... At its time, it is one of the largest caravanserais in Anatolia. The village of Sultanhanı, in the steppe landscape that separates Konya from Aksaray, offers a few guesthouses.

Built in the ^13th century, on the road that connected Konya to Persia, this caravanserai is particularly well preserved although it has not been restored. A small mosque also called "mosque-kiosk" is located in the courtyard with around stables, dormitories, rooms and bathrooms. At the back, there is a magnificent monumental portal decorated with small columns and niches with motifs reproducing natural stalactites.