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The Arasta Bazaar on the southeast side of Istanbul's Blue Mosque is worth visiting for its many shops selling carpets, kilims, Turkish tiles, apparel and souvenirs.

While you're here, you can visit the Great Palace Mosaic Museum beneath the Arasta.

An arasta is a series of shops built beneath or near a mosque. Rent from the shops provides money for the maintenance and repair of the mosque.

These shops were empty and derelict for many years until the tourism boom of the late 1980s and 1990s convinced those in charge to restore and rent them. Now the Arasta Bazaar (marked on some maps as the southwestern continuation of Kabasakal Caddesi) is among Istanbul's most-visited tourist markets.

At its northeastern end by Mimar Mehmet Ağa Caddesi are several open-air cafes, snack stands and restaurants, one of which has highly-amplified Turkish music until about 01:00 am.

To stroll through the Arasta Bazaar is to be invited in by dozens of accomplished, polished salesmen, speaking unaccented English (and a half dozen other languages), with bottomless treasure troves of ironic humor and topical jokes, to have a look, take a seat, sip some Turkish coffee or tea and consider the purchase of what is obviously a priceless treasure...or two or three.