The famous Sahaflar Carsisi, in Bayzil Square, is directly opposite the covered bazaar’s Spoon Makers’ Gate. This historic area has about 50 small shops. This site was the Chartoprateia of Byzantium, the Book and Paper market during the Byzantine period. After the conquest of Istanbul in 1453, fez makers and metal engravers used the area. Booksellers were in the covered bazaar, now housing bedspread makers and vendors. Sahaflar’s fame reached beyond the Ottoman Empire to Europe, where writers and historians such as Antoine Galland, Hammer, Busbecq and Charles White gave special attention to this antique book center. Galland mentions the Sahaflar in his book, Les Memoirs d’Istanbul, in the 17th century. While working at the French Embassy in Istanbul, he bought books there for the King of France, the Ambassador and for himself.

Istanbul, capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman civilizations, is still an important cultural center. You can still find art reflecting the city’s cultural treasury like a 400 year-old Koran; handwritten astronomy books, and I was shown what were, I was told, authentic imperial edicts. The quaint book stalls and shops are filled with dusty piles of books: antique, antique copies and current best sellers, displayed in many languages. The narrow stony streets lead you to a courtyard, small and overflowing with the warmth of the Turkish people…and the resident cats. These cats are loved immensely by the book dealers and are ceremoniously fed every evening. They wander about at will and lie lazily upon books that might easily be rare and valuable pieces of literature. The cats exude the warmth of the Turkish people and offer their own special invitation to absorb the joys of Istanbul’s second-hand book market, Sahaflar Carsisi.