Arasta Çarşısı ve Malgaca Pazarı

About Arasta Çarşısı ve Malgaca Pazarı

The historic Arasta Bazaar is the oldest bazaar in Urla and the Malgaca Market beside it is the oldest marketplace in the town; Visit Izmir describes the two together as the commercial heart of the peninsula throughout history. The Arasta is lined with shops that have served the people of Urla for generations and still houses many local businesses today. For many years the Friday market held at Malgaca brought crowds to the Arasta, and on the eve of religious holidays long queues formed on its cobbled streets as people from the surrounding villages came for a wider choice of goods at lower prices. Since the early 1900s these trading streets have supported shoemakers, tailors, saddlers, basket weavers, barbers, drapers, coffeehouse keepers, greengrocers, bakers, butchers, jewellers, watchmakers, tinsmiths, blacksmiths and carpenters, and Visit Izmir notes that apprentices and descendants carry on many of these trades. Together with the nearby Koprubasi shops and Zafer Caddesi running towards the industrial quarter, the area remains the centre of Urla town.