{"id":596,"date":"2026-08-25T23:48:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T20:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aleksblog.com\/en\/?p=596"},"modified":"2026-08-26T13:39:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T10:39:21","slug":"istanbul-unusual-spots-in-the-grand-bazaar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aleksblog.com\/en\/istanbul-unusual-spots-in-the-grand-bazaar\/","title":{"rendered":"Istanbul: 10 Unusual Spots in the Grand Bazaar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Grand Bazaar: a Guide to It’s Unusual Spots<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Aleks<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Merhaba!<\/p>\n

If you landed on this page from a Google search hoping to learn all the shopping secrets of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar \u2014 close the tab, you’re in the wrong place, don’t waste your time. I have no idea where to find “Herm\u00e8s” bags or other knockoffs.<\/p>\n

But if you’re looking for unusual and interesting locations around the Grand Bazaar \u2014 genuine hidden gems \u2014 you’ve come to the right place! I’ll tell you about 10 amazing spots that aren’t in every guidebook, and that most tourists don’t even know exist, too busy running around the market hunting for Gucci.<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Rooftops of the Grand Bazaar.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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We start at Vezneciler metro station (M2 line). And before heading to the Grand Bazaar, I suggest first stopping for a boza at the legendary Vefa Bozac\u0131s\u0131. Where else would you drink it, anyway.<\/p>\n

Oh, and what’s that huge thing over there\u2026 Ah, it’s the<\/p>\n

Valens Aqueduct<\/h2>\n

Now you’re going to say \u2014 you promised unusual places, and here’s a structure visible from the other side of the strait. We’ll get there, be patient. And I didn’t actually include the aqueduct in my top ten. But how could you just walk past something this ancient, especially when it’s right on the way.<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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When Constantine the Great made Constantinople the new capital of the Roman Empire, the city began growing rapidly. Water became scarce, and a complex system had to be built to bring water from forests and springs dozens of kilometers away. Essentially, this is a bridge that carried water. It was built under Emperor Valens in the 4th century. Water traveled along this aqueduct from springs 250 km away, supplying the city’s palaces and fountains.<\/p>\n

Just imagine \u2014 cars driving beneath a structure that’s nearly 1,700 years old.<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Vefa Bozac\u0131s\u0131: Where Atat\u00fcrk and Orhan Pamuk Drank Boza<\/h2>\n

Link to Google Maps.<\/a><\/p>\n

I originally wanted to write a separate post about this place, but decided to keep it as part of the same route, just as I discovered it myself.<\/p>\n

What is boza: it’s a thick fermented drink made from boiled millet with added sugar. It tastes a bit like baby apple pur\u00e9e. It’s so thick you can eat it with a spoon. Boza is considered a vitamin bomb and a great winter warmer \u2014 traditionally it was drunk in the cold months.<\/p>\n

In the Ottoman Empire, boza occupied a “gray zone.” Islam forbids alcohol, but fermentation gives boza a small percentage of it. And the longer it ferments, the stronger it gets. At one point there were even attempts to ban the drink \u2014 or rather its “Tatar version,” which was the strong one. Don’t worry though \u2014 the boza you’ll try today has about as much alcohol as kefir.<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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In old Istanbul, boza was a street drink: vendors walked through the night-time neighborhoods calling out a long, drawn-out “bozaaa!” It’s exactly this atmosphere that Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk captured in his novel A Strangeness in My Mind. Its protagonist wanders the streets for decades selling boza, and the drink itself becomes a symbol of a vanishing Istanbul.<\/p>\n