Auction for Grand Bazaar shop starts with $227,000 per square meter
ISTANBUL
A 9.2-square-meter shop in Istanbul’s touristic and commercial hotspot Grand Bazaar will be auctioned for 12 million Turkish Liras (nearly $2.1 million), according to an auction call.
The auction will take place at the 6th Civil Court of Peace on Jan. 10, 2020, according to a statement by the sales office of the court.
With its 22 gates, 64 streets and 3,600 shops on nearly 31,000 square meters of land, the Grand Bazaar is one of the oldest shopping centers in the world, it recalled.
The historical structure attracts between 300,000 and half a million visitors every day, it added.
The construction of the bazaar’s core began in 1455, just two years after the Ottomans captured Istanbul from the Byzantines, and it was the market for cloth sellers. It developed soon, hosting many other craftsmen and was turned into a foundation to support the Hagia Sophia Mosque.
Guilds, or lonca associations in Turkish, used to control the artisans or merchants in the bazaar during the Ottoman era.
Currently, more than 2,460 shops operate in the bazaar.
