Avrat Pazari (Women’s market)
One of Istanbul’s most popular open markets was the avrat pazari, or women’s market, where women shopped, often for food and drink. At the weekly market, women could interact and buy items and food for their household. Sources site that it may have been established with the support of Haseki Hürrem Sultan in the middle of the sixteenth century. No-longer extant, city views and maps from sixteenth to the nineteenth century, depict the market held in a large square in the former Byzantine forum, next to the Haseki Sultan Complex. This painting captures a scene by the once entirely extant monumental column of Arcadius from the Byzantine era, which has weathered some damage over the centuries. The minaret and dome of the Cerrah Mehmet Pasa Cami can also be seen in the background behind the column. The artist depicts women, wearing headdresses, in the marketplace shopping for food and flowers from sellers. The site of the women’s market was an important aspect of female urban identity. In this space, women could publicly interact and be seen.
Sources:
Burcu Ozguven, “A market place in the Ottoman Empire: Avrat Pazari and its surroundings” Kadin/Woman 2000(Vol. 2, Issue 2). Web. Gale Academic.
Image from: http://www.turkishculture.org/fine-art/paintings/bazaar-painters-241.htm?type=1