Istanbul - A Palimpsest of Memories

A picture of a portion of the Haziran Koridor of the Spice Market during its three-year long reconstruction, 1941.

The bustling interior of Istanbul's modern-day Spice Bazaar. 

For Istanbul, an in-depth look into the history of a single landmark, the Spice Bazaar, allowed us to focus on the temporal progression of an urban palimpsest and how that may translate into the physical, every-day manifestation of the site itself[1]. Furthermore, the incorporation of Pierre Nora’s concept of the lieux de memoire shows us that the palimpsest of the Spice Bazaar is not an obvious one that is defined solely by those most visible and large-scale historical events, such as the series of fires in Istanbul that spurred necessary reconstructions and physical ‘layer formations’ of the market, but also formed by the every day yet constant flow of memories that come and go with the arrival and departure of countless merchants, tradesmen, foreigners, local inhabitants, tourists and any other living being that adds to the daily energy of the Spice Bazaar. The Spice Bazaar is a palimpsest not merely because it was born into an empire that no longer exists today, nor because it was reconstructed and redesigned repeatedly due to physical destruction. Rather, given its identity as the hub of international trade in goods as well as cultures, and its consequent attraction of diverse ideas, traditions and perceptions, Istanbul’s Spice Bazaar is also a palimpsest of abstract ideas and memories that are exchanged through the many human interactions and transactions that take place inside the bazaar.