Take one step into Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, and it’s hard to imagine that it began as a warehouse ordered to be built by Mehmed the Conquerer in 1461. One of the first shopping malls in the world, it is also one of the largest covered markets, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops. Annually, the Grand Bazaar is visited by approximately 91,250,000 people, making it one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world.

The architecture of the main part of the bazaar is beautiful and quite nice to walk around, even if you don’t like to shop. Besides, if you like to people watch, this is THE place to go! But make sure to look up and around, because the architecture and tile work is lovely.

To say the bazaar is gigantic is an understatement. It was difficult for us to grasp; we didn’t even make it to most of those covered streets. We were, in one word, overwhelmed. What an assault on the senses, and I mean all of them! Visually, it was incredibly stimulating—eye candy for photography, especially photographing the colorful candy!

I could have spent days exploring the bazaar and doing photography, so perhaps I misspoke when I stated in my last post that three full days was a good amount of time to spend in Istanbul. It definitely wasn’t enough.

Coming up next: TURKIYE #3: MAGNIFICENT MOSQUES & TERRIFIC TOPKAPI PALACE