Kemeraltı Çarşısı

About Kemeraltı Çarşısı

Kemeraltı is İzmir's historic bazaar quarter and one of the oldest market districts in the world. Visit İzmir, the tourism portal of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, describes it as a 2,400-year-old bazaar that has been the city's shopping centre since the Hellenistic period, and a place that has long shaped İzmir's social, cultural and commercial life. The market spreads out behind the Clock Tower on Konak Square and stretches inland towards the ancient Agora. Its lanes are still lined with spice and herbal shops, coppersmiths and shoemakers alongside everyday stores selling clothing, household goods, fabrics and food, and bargaining is part of the experience in many shops. Within the bazaar there are close to 2,000 registered historic buildings, including old hans (merchant inns), mosques, churches and synagogues, a reminder that communities of three faiths lived and traded side by side here for centuries. In April 2020 İzmir's Historic City Centre, which takes in Kemeraltı and its surroundings, was added to UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List. Good to know: - The bazaar is a network of open streets rather than a single building, so individual shops keep their own hours. - It is easy to combine a visit with Konak Square, Kızlarağası Hanı and the Agora Open-Air Museum.