![\"Certain](\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/grand-bazaar-celebrates-its-550th-anniversary-with-tunes-of-piano-2010-12-21_l.jpg\" "\\"Certain")
Fatih Municipality Mayor Mustafa Demir said the Grand Bazaar stands for values representing the common heritage of mankind and would host cultural events just as the Istanbul European Capital of Culture 2010 did this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the conclusion of Istanbul European Capital of Culture activities this Sunday, the Grand Bazaar will take on the mission of offering a variety of activities every month,\u201d Demir said during a press meeting held in the old covered bazaar, inviting Istanbul people to the first special event on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The Shopping Festival is an event that will be offered within the scope of Grand Bazaar activities, said Demir, adding that shopping malls will offer 40 days and nights of shopping activities all around Istanbul from March 18 to April 30.<\/p>\n
Restoration work is also planned for the historical bazaar\u2019s unique mosaics and domes. With support of the traders, 98 percent of whom are property owners, the municipality will begin restoration and renovation soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough this project, we want to create a modern life center so that this bazaar can survive. The project will cost approximately 15 million Turkish Liras,\u201d said Demir.<\/p>\n
He said restoration work would be covered in certain parts of the bazaar so tourists and tradespeople would not be disturbed and that a team of 20 architects and 20 logistics experts would contribute to the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully, the Grand Bazaar will take its new shape in 2012,\u201d said Demir.<\/p>\n
U\u011furlu will take the stage on Kalpak\u00e7\u0131lar Street at 3 p.m. on Sunday and said this would be his fifth performance in the Grand Bazaar.<\/p>\n
\u201cBringing music from the concert halls to historical sites not only gives me a feeling of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu, but also rescues this type of music from the dominance of the elite,\u201d said U\u011furlu.<\/p>\n
U\u011furlu has also given concerts at the historical Haydarpa\u015fa and Sirkeci train stations, Beyaz\u0131t State Library and a variety of provinces in Turkey. Following U\u011furlu\u2019s performance, the Fatih Municipality\u2019s mehter group will perform traditional Ottoman military music.<\/p>\n
Grand Bazaar<\/p>\n
The Grand Bazaar (Kapal\u0131\u00e7ar\u015f\u0131) in Istanbul is one of the largest covered markets in the world with 60 streets and 5,000 shops. It attracts between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. It is well known for its jewelry, hand-painted ceramics, carpets, embroidered work, spices and antique shops. Many of the stalls in the bazaar are grouped by types of goods, with special areas for leather, gold, jewelry and much more.<\/p>\n
The bazaar has been an important trading center since 1461 and its labyrinth-like vaults feature two domed buildings, the first of which was constructed between 1455 and 1461 on the order of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. The bazaar was vastly enlarged in the 16th century, during the reign of Sultan S\u00fcleyman the Magnificent, and in 1894 underwent a major restoration following an earthquake.<\/p>\n
The complex houses two mosques, four fountains, two hamams, and several caf\u00e9s and restaurants. In the center is the high-domed hall of the Cevahir Bedesten, where the most valuable items and antiques were to be found in the past, and still are today, including furniture, copperware, amber prayer beads, inlaid weapons and icons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISTANBUL \u2013 H\u00fcrriyet Daily News The 550th birthday of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul\u2019s historical trade district Fatih will be celebrated with a ceremony on Sunday during which the pianist Tuluyhan U\u011furlu will give a concert featuring music from his album \u201cForever Istanbul.\u201d Fatih Municipality Mayor Mustafa Demir said the Grand Bazaar stands for values […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":29512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[4218],"class_list":["post-29510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-turkey","tag-grand-bazaar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}