A Bedestan (or bezistan or bedesten) is a covered market usually for haberdashery and craftsmanship.[1] Bezistans were built in Ottoman Empire and their design is based on the design of the mosques.[2]
A Bedestan, in the most basic definition, is the central building of the commercial part of the town. It has its origins in the Greco-Roman Basilica or Kaiserion, which served a similar purpose[citation needed].
The Bedestan was such an important building that during Ottoman times cities were often classified under two categories, cities with a Bedestan and cities without a Bedestan. [3]
Etymology
The origin of the word is Arab word bez, which means clothes, linen but also indicating embroidery and other precious items, and Persian suffix istan.[4]
Examples of Bedestens
Numerous bezistans were built during Ottoman Empire, but not all of them survived. Some of the most notable bezistans are:
- Gazi-Husrev Beg's Bezistan in Baščaršija, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.[5]
- Brusa Bezistan, also in Sarajevo.[6]
- Bezistan in Old Bazaar, Skopje, Macedonia
- Bezistan in Bitola, Macedonia[7]
- Bezistan in Serres, Greece - today it houses the Archaeological Museum of Serres.[8]
- Bezistan - castle in Larissa, Greece.
- Bedesten in Nicosia, Cyprus - originally a Greek Orthodox church from the 6th and 14th centuries, architecturally different from all other Ottoman bezistans[9]
- Bezistan in Thessaloniki, Greece.[10]
| Examples of Bedestens in the Balkans. |
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Bezistan in Serres, Greece - Archaeological Museum of Serres. |
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| Examples of Bedestens in Turkey. |
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References
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External links
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- ↑ Kreiser, Klaus: „Bedesten-Bauten im Osmanischen Reich. Ein vorläufiger Überblick auf Grund der Schriftquellen.“, in: Istanbuler Mitteilungen (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Istanbul) 2, pp.367-400 (Tübingen 1979), reprint in Istanbul und das Osmanische Reich. Derwischwesen, Baugeschichte, Inschriftenkunde. Istanbul: Isis 1995. 286 S. (Analecta Isisiana. 14) pp.61-96.
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