Istanbul Guide

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switch off your phone, as readers have re ported draconian crowd-control here. Also on offer are a 1¼-hour Turkish dance show (at 9pm on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday for most of the year) and a monthly 1¾-hour performance set in the Ottoman harem. 7 SHOPPING The best shopping in Sultanahmet is found in and around the Arasta Bazaar, an historic arcade of shops that was once part of the külliye (mosque complex) of the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii). Some of Turkey’s best-known rug and ceramics dealers have shops in the surrounding streets. o JENNIFER’S HAMAM BATHWARES, HOMEWARES Map p240 ( % 0212-516 3022; www.jennifers hamam.com; Ö ğ ül Sokak 20; h 8.30am-9pm Apr Oct, to 7pm Nov-Mar; j Sultanahmet) Owned by Canadian Jennifer Gaudet, this shop stocks top-quality hamam items, including towels, robes and pe ş temals (bath wraps) produced using certified organic cotton and silk on old-style shuttled looms. It also sells natural soaps and keses (coarse cloth mittens used for exfoliation). Prices are set; no bargain ing. This is the main showroom; there are two further branches in the Arasta Bazaar (Map p240; Arasta Bazaar 125 and Arasta Bazaar 135; j Sultanahmet) . o ÖZLEM TUNA JEWELLERY, HOMEWARES Map p238 ( % 0212-527 9285; www.ozlemtuna. com; 5th fl, Nemlizade Han, Ankara Caddesi 65, Eminönü; h 9am-6pm Mon-Fri; j Sirkeci) A leader in Turkey’s contemporary design movement, Özlem Tuna produces super stylish jewellery and homewares and sells them from her atelier overlooking Sirkeci train station. Her pieces use forms and col ours that reference İ stanbul’s history and culture (tulips, seagulls, Byzantine mosaics, nazar boncuk ‘evil eye’ charms) and include hamam bowls, coffee and teasets, coasters, rings, earrings, cufflinks and necklaces. o GALERI KAYSERI BOOKS Map p240 ( % 0212-516 3366; www.galeri kayseri.com; Divan Yolu Caddesi 11 & 58; h 9am 8pm; j Sultanahmet) Peddling literature since 1996, these twin shops stock a well presented selection of English-language SULTANAHMET & AROUND SHOPPING

novels, history books, maps and coffee table tomes on Turkey, and have knowled gable staff on hand to recommend a good holiday read. The second, smaller, shop is on the opposite side of the road half a block closer to Aya Sofya. KHAFTAN ART, ANTIQUES Map p240 ( % 0212-458 5425; Nakilbent Sokak 16; h 9am-7pm; j Sultanahmet) Gleaming Rus sian icons, delicate calligraphy (old and new), ceramics, karagöz (shadow-puppet theatre) puppets, Ottoman prints and con temporary paintings are on show in this attractive shop. MEHMET ÇETINKAYA GALLERY CARPETS, JEWELLERY Map p240 ( % 0212-517 1603, 0212-517 6808; www.cetinkayagallery.com; Tavukhane Sokak 5-7; h 9am-8pm; j Sultanahmet) Mehmet Çetin kaya is one of the country’s foremost experts on antique oriental carpets and kilims. Built over a Byzantine well, his flagship store cum-gallery stocks items of artistic and ethnographic significance, and is full of treasures including carpets, kilims, textiles and jewellery. A branch in the Arasta Bazaar (Map p240; Arasta Bazaar 58; h 9am-8pm; j Sul tanahmet) sells textiles and antique jewellery. İ ZNIK CLASSICS CERAMICS Map p240 ( % 0212-516 8874; www.iznikclassics. com; Utangaç Sokak 17; h 9am-8pm, closes 6.30pm winter; j Sultanahmet) İ znik Classics is one of the best places in town to source hand-painted collector-item ceramics made with real quartz and using metal oxides for pigments. Admire the range here or at branches in the Arasta Bazaar (Map p240; % 0212-517 3608; Arasta Bazaar 119; h 9am 8pm, closes 6.30pm winter; j Sultanahment) and Grand Bazaar (Map p85; % 0212-520 2568; Ş erifa ğ a Sokak 188, İ ç Bedesten; h 8.30am-7pm Mon-Sat; j Beyaz ı t-Kapal ı Çar ş ı ) . The shop next door at number 13 sells Kütahya ceramics, including tiles, plates and bowls. COCOON CARPETS, TEXTILES Map p240 ( % 0212-518 0338; www.yastk.com; Küçük Ayasofya Caddesi 17; h 9am-6pm; j Sul tanahmet) Sultanahmet is thickly carpeted with rug and textile shops but Cocoon is worth a look. Felt hats, felt-and-silk scarves, rugs, cushion covers and textiles from cen tral Asia are artfully displayed. There’s a second branch selling hamam items in the