Gaziantep Things to Do

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Just at the entrance of this bazaar are displays of portrait sized carpets of various faces, probably Turkey’s important figures and celebrities.

Construction date of this han is estimated at the beginning of the 19th century. Thought to have been built in 1892 by Hadji Mehmet Muhsinzade. Parts of the upper floor was renovated in 1985.

The”U” shaped han has porticos on the second floor halls. During the past, the ground floor was used as stables and warehouses. Today, most of the shops inside the han sells carpets.

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The Zincirli Bedesten, locally known as “black steps bazaar” is one of the is an Ottoman era covered bazaar built in 1781 by Hüseyin Pasha of Darende. According to records, there was formerly an epigraph on the south gate written by Kusuri, but this inscription is not in place today. This bazaar was used as a wholesale market hall for meat, fruit and vegetables.

There are 73 stores inside the bazaar in the “L” shaped one-storey building, and 5 gates. The bedestan was restored by the General Directorate of Foundations in 2008.

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This mosque is very near the hotel I was staying at (Ugurlu Hotel) and located within a very busy commercial district.

As evidenced by Judicial Register and a firman (Ottoman royal decree), this mosque was built prior to 1786 by Nuret Mehmet Pasha. Two epigraphs on the minaret and mihrab show dates of 1785 and 1834.

During the war of independence, the entire minaret and the domes of the praying portico were destroyed, and was repaired in 1954 by the Ministry of Education and was used as a museum until 1969.

The new minaret was constructed in 1975 next to the mosque. The mosque consist of 2 sections each parallel to the kiblah (Mecca’s direction). The portal is decorated with black and white stones. Just as some other mosques in the city, the area in front of the Mihrab is domed but the other areas are covered with cross vaults. The portico is also domed. There is a large courtyard at the northern end with a “hazira” (tombs within an enclosure of a mosque). The tomb of Nuret Mehmet Pasha lies within this hazira.

The mosque was restored by the General Directorate of Foundations in 2008.

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According to records, this turkish bath is built before the year 1640, as mentioned in Evliya Celebi’s travel book. It is considered to be the “apple of the eyes” of the city in respect to its great location and architecture and considered to be one of the unique works of art of Gaziantep. There are what seemed to be several uniquely interesting upside-down clear glasses adorning its domes.

Naib Bath was built in an area of 742 square meters. This place preserves the culture of the traditional hammam sauna, massage, skin care.

This important historical tradition of Ottoman bath building, was part of the cultural heritage development programme conducted by the Municipality of Gaziantep in cooperation with the EU's GAP Cultural Heritage Grant Program, and opened in September 2007.

It’s located at one side down the castle.

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This mosque was built by Koca Battal in the 18th century, according to maintenance records, the mosque was built in 1799-1800.

The cut-stone mosque is rectangular in design, divided into 2 sections, each running parallel to the kiblah (in Mecca). Although only one of these sections survive at present time as the other section was reclaimed as a road. The 3 cross vaults over the main area remain, but the portal, the mihrab and the praying portico lost their intrinsic qualities during renovations. The fluted shaft of the cut stone minaret sits on the main body of the mosque. Under the “muqarnas” (a type of corbel used as a decorative device in traditional Islamic architecture), there are decorative rosette and palmate motifs and ceramic plates.

A maintenance work was done in 2007 by the General Directorate of Foundations.

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This mosque was built during the reign of the last Dulkaderoglu Bey – Alauddevle Bozkurt Bey – between 1479 – 1550. Only the minaret remains from the original mosque. The present mosque was built between 1903 – 1909 from voluntary donations from locals and Sultan Abdulhamid.

The architect Armenak and the master builder Kirkor, were assisted during construction period by the locals from the city’s 32 districts. It’s also known locally as Ali Dola Mosque, a derivative of Aluddevle.

While influences from Mamluk art can be seen on the minaret, the mosque is rich in decorative design. The entrance façade is enlivened by rows of black and white stones and on the other elevations. The interior of the arched Mihrab is decorated with flowers and hexagons.

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The main arched entrance of the Tarihi Yenihan has an inscription that says 1557, probably the year it was built. This han is near the Millet Han and the Gumruk Inn.

Like most hans in Gaziantep, it has a big courtyard with several tables and chairs serving coffee and tea. There are several shops selling handicrafts, some replica mosaics, local shoes and carpets.

Right at the entrance, there’s this guy making Turkish coffee using charcoals.

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The inn was built during the years 1873-1878 by Hadji Omer Efendi, which is also called the Hadji Omer Inn.

In the past, the building was used as a traveller’s inn. The skewed rectangular inn was built from cut stones and has a single courtyard. The ground floor was used as a stabling and storage. There are shops along the street side of the front entrance wall. A stone stairs in a corner of the courtyard lead to the upper floor where guests were accommodated.

Now, it has several boutique shops that sells handicrafts like carpets, local dresses and shoes, and a nice exhibition hall also selling several hand-made decors and home haberdasheries.