Zincirli Covered Turkish Bazaar

In Anatolian culture, bedestens(covered Turkish bazaar) are considered to be the focal point of shopping. These covered and long bazaars are of great interest in every period. Both architecturally and historically, it is exciting for bedestens to reach the present day. Zincirli Bedesten, located in the city of Gaziantep, is one of the bedestens that has survived by preserving its texture. The number of bedesten showing this success is currently only two in Gaziantep city. Apart from the Zincirli Bedesten, a Kemikli Bedesten can be evaluated in this context. The Zincirli Bedesten was built at the beginning of the 18th century. At that time Darendeli Hüseyin Pasha played a role in the construction of this bedesten. Local people talk about this place in the form of black stepped bedesten. On the other hand, it is also referred as ‘meat state’ due to its hosting of butchers for a certain period of time. The Directorate of Foundations recently restored this place. After this restoration, 73 shops are made available for use. More importantly, it is restored to that authentic atmosphere it deserves. The venue has five separate entrance gates in total. Just above the Great Gate on the south side,there is an inscription reaching to this day. The author of this inscription is Kusuri. Kusuri is known as a very famous saz poet of that period. A stanza of himself is placed in this area. Zincirli Bedesten is located in Kunduracılar Bazaar. The historic site, which has two floors, is a very interesting place especially for foreign tourists. In 1957, a section of this place, unfortunately, is destroyed after a major fire. At that time, some parts of the bedesten were treated as courthouses. These parts are also severely damaged in the fire. Today it is a bedesten state where both the spicers and the sellers of tourist goods gain intensity.