Grand Bazaar of Isfahan

🕰️When was it built?

The Qeysarieh section was built in the Safavid era, in 1029 AH (1620), on the north side of Naqsh-e Jahan Square. It was modelled on the Qeysarieh Bazaar of Lar in Fars Province. Caravanserais from the Safavid and Qajar eras also survive in the wider bazaar complex.

🏛️What was it built for?

The bazaar was built for trade and for the work of merchants. In the two-storey Qeysarieh building, the guilds' shops were on the ground floor and the upper floor was used for offices and trading. Carpet selling is one of the bazaar's best-known trades.

👀What you will see

• The domes of the roof have skylights that bring daylight inside and were also designed to let the air move.
• The Qeysarieh Gate is the bazaar's entrance from Naqsh-e Jahan Square and marks where the Safavid section meets the city's older bazaars.
• Lanes such as Risman, the samovar makers' lane and Maqsud Beyk branch off the main route; the bazaar is not one straight passage.
• The Kasegaran and Nimavard schools and the Jarchi Mosque stand among the shops, so the bazaar was never only a place of trade.
• The Mokhles and Golshan caravanserais and the Malek covered hall are among the spaces that were added to the bazaar's architecture.

💡Something interesting

The part near the Jameh Mosque was also called the Nezamieh or Nezam al-Molki Bazaar because it neighbours the Nizam al-Mulk dome. The name belongs to the old part of the complex and shows that the bazaar is much more than the Safavid Qeysarieh.