Construction of the New Mosque and Spice Market, 1663
The Egyptian Bazaar was constructed as a part of the külliye[1] of the New Mosque. The construction of the New Mosque, which was originally planned by Safiye Sultan in 1597, the wife of Padishah Murad III., was completed in the year of 1663. After Safiye Sultan passed in 1619 and led to changes in the throne, the construction of the New Mosque was halted, but reinstated in 1661 by Hatice Turhan Sultan, the Queen Mother of Sultan Mehmed IV, who wanted to build her own külliye but failed to find another suitable location. While Safiye Sultan’s original plan of the construction included the idea of a madrasa, an institution of Islamic instruction, it was ultimately foregone and the Egyptian Bazaar was built instead [2].
Along with the mosque, the külliye of the New Mosque also included a Hünkâr Kasrı, Darülkurra, Tomb, Arasta, Elementary-Primary School and a public fountain. The Egyptian Bazaar itself, comprising of specific groups of stores in particular, was mostly constructed with the intention of monetary assistance to a foundation. The rent from the shops were used to support the upkeep of the mosque as well as its charitable activities, including the school, hamam and hospital of the külliye. Because much of the city’s public space and social life during the Ottoman era was centered around these külliyes, in which religious and commercial activities were coupled and performed together, the Bazaar was a key part of Istanbul’s daily life and tradition that brought the city’s people together[3].
Designed in an “L” shape, the bazaar is composed of 88 chambered rooms, six entrances and two-storied sections around the Haseki entrance. During the Ottoman era the upper story was used as a Commercial Court where Muslim judges heard complaints and handled conflicts amongst the shopkeepers and customers[4]. The Bazaar served as a crucial space for merchants and the public alike, a central site that very much became a part of the city’s collective memory through its everyday yet definitive role in reflecting life in Istanbul.
[1] A külliye, an Ottoman architectural concept, is a complex of buildings usually joined to a central mosque or mausoleum. The urban texture of the Ottoman Empire was organized such that places of worship, commerce and social gathering were gathered in the center, while residential areas were in the surrounding locations. Külliye structures emerged from this pattern of the Ottomans in which religious and commercial activities could be performed all together and constatiued the core of social life and public space in Ottoman settlements. They generally included places of worship, social structures such as hospital and hermitages, and commercial structures such as bazaars.
See "Kulliye." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web.