Lots of Cloth, But No Tents
No tents made or sold here anymore
on the Street of the
Tentmakers, but lots
of clothing. This is between Beyazıt
Square and Istanbul's Grand
Bazaar—in fact, the buildings
are against the Bazaar's western
wall—so it's part of Istanbul's
huge market district.
It's a
typical market street: crowded,
but the traffic moves through.
Turkey raises a lot of cotton,
and has lots of wool from
its millions of sheep, so it's
a natural for making apparel.
The buyers are from Istanbul,
the rest of Turkey, and lots
of Balkan countries.
Çadırcılar Caddesi (that's
CHAH-duhr-juh-LAHR jah-deh-see)
has changed a lot over the years
that I've been traveling to Turkey.
It used to be much quieter,
with shops selling plumbing fixtures,
household furnishings and even
scrap metal.
My friend Aladdin's
antiques shop was here—you can
read all about it in Bright
Sun, Strong Tea,
the extract entitled "Aladdin's
Lamp Shop." |
