On Bazaar day in Lac Carré three weeks before Xmas, I decided to spend the Yuletide Festivities with friends in Budapest.
Easier said than done.
I soon discovered that the only way still available for me to get to Hungary’s Capital City in time for some Magyar-language caroling was on a fourteen-hour flight on Turkish Airlines, including a four-hour layover in Istanbul – too long for vegetating in an airport lounge and unfortunately too short to nip into town to visit Istanbul’s famous Grand Bazaar.
I love bazaars! (The word means Covered Market).
The Istanbul Grand Bazaar is one of the largest and oldest in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops or stalls in a total area of 30,700 m2 attracting between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. (Wikipedia)
Bazaars can be found all over the Middle East and North Africa.
It seems to me that bazaars are really precursors of our shopping centres, except that the bazaars are more fun.
A souk, on the other hand, is an outdoor market in a Muslim country. The most spectacular souks in the world are perhaps in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Souks are similar to bazaars, and can be found throughout many parts of North Africa, Western Asia, and the Middle East. They are part of the culture of Middle Eastern countries such as Morocco, Qatar, Libya, Tunis, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jerusalem.
But let’s not forget about Khan el Khalili the famous souk in Cairo, Egypt. It’s truly fascinating.
So is the Empress Market in Karachi, Pakistan, built in Queen Victoria’s days.
Our “bazaars” are indoor flee markets situated mostly in church basements organized mainly for charitable purposes and relatively boring.
It’s hard to find such a bazaar that is fun, but I found one in Lac Carré in the basement of the church on Pisciculture Street (what a lovely name for a street and what a pity that the fish farm after which it was named has been closed). It is run by six charming elderly ladies who really know their business. They are highly organized: the very wide range of merchandise offered for sale is displayed in carefully classified order and the ladies know precisely where everything is.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, SINCE THEIR CLIENTELE IS MAINLY LOCAL, THEY KNOW AND REMEMBER THE NAMES OF THEIR CLIENTS. VISITING THEM ALWAYS TURNS INTO A FRIENDLY MEETING – SORT OF A FAMILY AFFAIR.
* * *
I WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY AND, ABOVE ALL, A HEALTHY NEW YEAR!
Happy New Year to you as well. I really enjoyed your article and learned something new. The difference between bazaar and souk. I live in Tower 2 of the Foyer Hongrois. If you have time I would like to enjoy lunch at your convenience. Paul Billette, room 306.
Meyn teyerer freynd – az du hast mikh tsurikgefirt tsu di ramantishe bazaarn, vas lebn veyter in zkhrun fun meyne reyze keyn ishral aun katar aun kremazi bulvard! 2024 zol brengen ir farblibn gut gezunt, libe, freyd aun shlum fun gayst. L’kheym!
In France there are many regular outdoor markets that resemble souks in that you can find just about anything there:- all kinds of food, clothing, jewelry, kitchen and household accessories, cosmetics, suitcases etc., set up on trellises in the middle of the road,(obviously closed to car traffic till the market closes), as well as ordinary shops along the street. Some are daily, byweekly or weekly affairs, some relatively ordinary, some quite exotic. I used to go to one in a suburb of Paris called le marché de Chansy which was huge fun, very diverse and colourful in both clientele and merchandise of both excellent and cheap quality. Unfortunately it suffered a lot during Covid and has become a shadow of its former self.
I enjoyed your blog on Souk/Bazaars. In fact Montreal is also know for hosting the latter. I recently went to one with one of my mom’s dear friends. It was of a different nature: representing Montreal’s designers. It was situated in an old decrepit but charming warehouse on St. Urbain street. Quite frankly unassuming until you entered the premise. Many enthusiasts and aficionados meandered through this one. You could find anything from food to architecture; there were lots of items to choose from. The presentation of them was art all on its own.
https://www.facebook.com/soukMTL So you don’t have to wander far… as our City boasts a few around the town! Thank for the read…
Another beautiful piece…thank.you very much…happy new year…🍾🥂