Covered Market (Kapali Çarsi), Bursa

Bursa's pleasant Covered Market (Kapali Çarsi) is much smaller than Istanbul's 4000-shop labyrinth, but it's only the centerpiece of a much larger Bursa bazaar district laced with narrow streets, many of them covered to protect shoppers from bad weather.

Wander through Bursa's Covered Bazaar, just off the Koza Park next to the Great Mosque (Ulu Cami), and don't miss the handsomest of the hans: the Ipek (Silk) Han, the Koza (Cocoon) Han, and the Emir (Lord's) Han.

The narrow streets harbor a dozen hans (caravanserais), old Ottoman workshop-and-warehouse complexes arranged around a courtyard and sealed by massive armored doors.

Silk is the strong point in many shops. Silk was Bursa's prime cloth trade for centuries, and although much of the silk now on sale comes from elsewhere, the variety and selection are still impressive.

When I first came to Turkey in the 1960s, silk was still being raised in commercial quantities around Bursa. In April the farmers would buy their silkworms and set them to eating mulberry leaves.

By May or June they had spun their cocoons (koza). Huge sacks of the valuable cocoons would soon fill the Koza Han to be haggled over by farmers, brokers and buyers.

Of special interest is the Eski Aynali Çarsi ("Old Mirrored Market"), which was actually built as a hamam (Turkish bath), but later converted to shops. Drop in at Karagöz Antikaci, an antiques and handicrafts shop that also carries Karagöz shadow puppets.

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Ipek (Silk) Han, Bursa, Turkey

Above, Ipek (Silk) Han, center of the Bursa silk trade.
Below left, silk scarves for sale in a Koza Han shop.