Markets to visit Route de la soie

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.

The origin of the large fish market in Pescaria, located on the island of Rialto, in Venice, dates back to the th century. But current buildings, brick and marble, date back to 1907. To enjoy the excitement and the profusion of these caves, which are full of a multitude of fish and shellfish, you must come early in the morning. Starting at 8 am is the best. Moreover, the Venetians say it: " The fish has 24 lives and it loses one per hour! " So to find fresh fish and still frétillant, there is no question of waiting the end of the morning! The stalls are almost empty, the atmosphere has fallen, some tourists wander through the aisles as if they had missed their train…

The most attractive market in Bishkek. Fruit and vegetable market, meat and dairy products, spices, you can find everything... In one of the big buildings, fabrics from Turkey, China, the Emirates... and, if you look carefully, khan atlas fabrics from the Ferghana Valley. Go there early in the morning to enjoy the entertainment at the beginning of the day and take advantage of the opportunity to make up your lunch as you pass through the stands, tasting salads sold in plastic bags and hot bread just out of the ovens on the right and left.

Chorsu, which means the «four roads», is the biggest bazaar in the centre of Tashkent. The large hall, built after the earthquake of 1966, welcomes products from all over the country: dry fruit on the floor, spices and condiments on the ground floor. In recent years, Chorsu has undergone some changes. The open-air meat market, where one trébuchait on the heads of freshly shaved sheep, and where even the night was a smell of blood and fat, was moved to a new closed and glass building. The previously reserved space is now host all year round and seed sellers, except during the melon season, where the production of cucurbits from all over the country occurs.

At the foot of the grand hall are still clowns, wrestlers and acrobats of all kinds, attracting a dense and enthusiastic crowd. On the other side of the grand hall, the clothing shops have also been renovated and rebuilt in a hard way. The large bus station has been reorganized, and the nearby intersection, from where to reach the old town of Chorsu, has been completely redone. You will find a model supermarket as well as an amazing building with a children's crib and at the top of which you can climb through a spiral staircase to admire the view over the bazaar or the mountains.

" Ya Allah, there Allah, there Allah! " Like the song of a song, this little sentence pronounced with a tonic accent justifies in the aisles of the bazaar. Used by porters to warn of their arrival, it adds to the prevailing noise in this huge market. A real city in the city, it offers all the goods and services that can be imagined; barber, trader of appliances, beauty products and houses unusual scenes. Here, a kitchen clerk peeling onions, here a thommessen repriser one of his pieces. A few figures will measure the country's greatest bazaar, which is classified as a UNESCO heritage by UNESCO. The complex covers a network of 36 km of narrow streets, a veritable labyrinth in the heart of the city and covers 75 hectares with no fewer than 5 555 shops. If the exact dates of its creation remain uncertain, most of the current structure date of the Essentiel period (1750-1779).

In the left aisle you will find most carpet merchants. Tabriz is obviously one of the best steps for this type of purchase. There are mainly nomadic carpets, but carpets closer to Isfahan or Nain styles are also very numerous. To discover them and to negotiate them in the goutant of the cool secret is pure happiness!

One of the most pleasant places to shop is certainly the caravanserai.

The bazaar of Ferghana is worth a detour: it is the largest and busiest bazaar in the Ferghana valley, at least in the Uzbek part of the valley. The atmosphere is at its most intense on Sundays and the din is most deafening under the covered area. Like many bazaars in Uzbekistan, products such as meat and fish are concentrated under a single glass hall, and clothing and textile vendors each have their own small shop. Around it, the atmosphere remains more authentic. Bread, fruit, vegetables, always skillfully arranged..

Andijan's bazaar is reputed to be one of the largest and busiest in the region, especially on Sundays. It is only during the cotton harvest that its alleys remain deserted. The best thing to do is to come by late morning. You will then have plenty of time to get lost in the miles of stands. You will find absolutely everything you can imagine but it is especially the fabrics section that is worth the detour for those of you who wish to bring back adras and atlases at a good price. Here, as elsewhere, we negotiate dry.

To the east of the park, around the Mullah Kirghiz Madrasa, this bazaar is held every day, in a very oriental atmosphere. Sunday is the most vibrant market day, especially in the morning. There are no particular specialties in Namangan, but the bazaar is still a good place to find knives from the neighboring village of Chust, whose steel is very famous, as well as the know-how of the craftsmen. For the rest, one will find as everywhere else the stalls gathered by brotherhoods: bread, vegetables, meats, tools..

Nestled in a small courtyard behind the mosque, this book market is located on the very site once occupied by the Chartoprateia, the book market of the Byzantine era: a tradition that has been perpetuated for several centuries! At the dawn of the Ottoman Empire, manuscripts from all over the Empire were unearthed, a real treasure trove. The site is now frequented by students from the neighbouring university, creating a bohemian atmosphere conducive to strolling.