Mahmutpaşa Market
Istanbul's textile and fabric market — the cheapest place to buy cotton and linen by the metre, on a street that's been trading since Byzantine times.
About
The Mahmutpaşa Market is the city's main wholesale and retail textile and fabric market, on the busy street between the Grand Bazaar and the Beyazıt Tram stop. The street has been a commercial artery since Byzantine times — Mese, the main processional avenue of Constantinople, ran through this area.
Today the street is lined with dozens of fabric shops selling cotton, linen, polyester, silk, and traditional Turkish textiles by the metre — usually at substantially lower prices than the Grand Bazaar or Arasta. You'll also find haberdashery (ribbon, lace, buttons), table and bed linen, modest-dress headscarves and modest clothing, and traditional Ottoman-style fabric by the bolt.
Mahmutpaşa is not pretty — it's a working commercial street, crowded with handcarts and shoppers. But for visitors looking to buy fabric or clothing at genuinely local prices, it's where locals go. Most vendors speak some English; bring Turkish lira in cash.
Open daily except Sundays, 09:00-19:00. Some shops open Sundays for the tourist trade.
Photo credits
- mahmutpasha-market-hero.jpg by Picsum (Picsum Photos, CC0 (Public Domain))