KRAKOW CLOTH HALL AND SOME CONSIDERATIONS ON THE BEDESTEN FUNCTION

Authors : Sema Küskü

Pages : 81-94

View : 17 | Download : 58

Publication Date : 2017-06-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Cloth-bazaar (bedesten/bezzazistan), which identifies international trade in Ottoman cities especially in the 15th and 16th centuries, were situated in the centers of many important cities particularly in Bursa, Edirne, and Istanbul. These buildings, being the center of cloth-seller (bezzaz), acted like a stock market. Interior of these cloth-bazaars, whose architectural plan were standardized, have an especially engrossing rectangular plan. The middle area of these buildings are divided by double-sided arches vaulting on the single row of piers into bay surmounted by a dome and also a row of shops surrounding these areas. Exterior of them also was surrounded with iwans from all quarters. Cloth Hall, situated in the center of Krakow, is a significant trade building which can be associated with “bedesten.” At present, this building has been still organising the center of the city and reiterating the main architectural plan of the classical bedesten. Cloth Hall in Krakow indicated the Ottoman-Poland relations particularly in 15th and 16th centuries when the international trade mostly focused on silk, spicy and leather. Moreover, name, function and architectural plan of “Cloth Hall” is also indicated that both Ottoman Bedestens and Krakow’s Cloth Hall are similar to each other. In this context, the aim of this article is to analyze the voyage of “bedesten functions” from Ottoman Empire to Poland through this Building.
Keywords : Krakow, cloth hall, bedesten, main market/bazaar

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