Chess sets from Turkey
This is my 3rd and final post on Turkey. In the first article I mentioned about the plastic chess sets and in the second article it was on Istanbul Chess Club.
This article will cover some of the markets, attractions and some of the types of sets that you will find in Turkey. It is a short story but with many more photos.
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| Shop in the Grand Bazaar |
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| A popular theme for the sets are Crusaders v Ottoman’s Army |
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| Turkish Lira 170 = KES 6,000 |
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| The variety is mind boggling |
Historical sites
The historical sites that we went to included the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) and Sophia Hagia Church. The main markets that we visited were the Grand Bazaar (with over 4,000 shops) and the Spice Bazaar.
The Grand Bazaar gets between 250,000 to 400,000 thousand visitors a day and is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world. It is over 500 years old.
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| The Grand Bazaar |
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| Many interesting things to buy |
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| Shop in the Grand Bazaar |
The Spice Bazaar is another famous attraction and as the name suggests is the main centre for spices and dried fruits. There are a variety of other shops as well selling garments, kitchen items etc.
In both these markets a variety of chess sets are available.
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| Spice shop |
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| Spice Bazaar |
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| Shop just outside the Spice Bazaar |
Visiting the Sultan Ahmed Mosque & the Hagia Sophia were the highlights of our trip. Each site has a long and interesting history.
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| Sultan Ahmed Mosque |
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| Sultan Ahmed Mosque – inside |
The Hagia Sophia was a Christian Church before it became a mosque in 1453 and it was converted to a museum in 1935. It attracts a total of 3.3 million visitors a year!
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| Interior of Hagia Sophia |
I am very sure that I will visit Turkey again in the near future.