Kırkkaşık Bedesten is a

bedesten A bedesten (variants: bezistan, bezisten, bedestan) is a type of covered market or market hall which was historically found in the cities of the Ottoman Empire. It was typically the central building of the commercial district of an Ottoman town o ...

(covered market) in Tarsus,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. There are figures of lotus carved on the pediment of the bedesten. In the Medieval Age, the people named the bedesten ''Kırkkaşık'' (forty spoons) because they mistook the lotuses for spoons.

Geography

The bedesten is in Tarsus, a district center in

Mersin Province Mersin Province (), formerly İçel Province (), is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast between Antalya Province, A ...

. It is situated at in Camii Nur neighbourhood of Tarsus, adjacent to Tarsus Grand Mosque

History

In Medieval Turkish tradition,

Vakıf A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or '' mortmain'' property, is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or chari ...

was a source of revenue, endowed by the commissioners of the mosques and other charitable institutions for the exploitation and the maintenance of these institutions. Kırkkaşık Bedesten was an vakıf and hospice commissioned by İbrahim Bey of Ramazanoğlu house of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1579 to support Tarsus Grand Mosque. (İbrahim Bey was also the commissioner of the mosque). In 1960-1961 the bedesten was repaired and reopened to public use.

Details

The construction material of the rectangular plan bedesten is cut stone. The roof is made of five domes. There are 18 rooms all of which are used as shops in the bedesten.Mersin tourism page
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkkasik Bedesten Tarsus, Mersin Ottoman architecture in Turkey Archaeological sites in Mersin Province, Turkey