Tabriz Bazaar
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How it came to be
Tabriz has stood on a trade route between east and west since antiquity, and its bazaar was one of the most important commercial centres of the Silk Road. Al-Maqdisi in the 10th century, Yaqut in the 13th, Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta and many others wrote about it.
By the 13th century the city and its bazaar were already prosperous and well known, and in the 16th century Tabriz became the capital of the Safavids. After it lost that status it remained a major trading hub until the end of the 18th century, helped by endowments and tax exemptions that drew merchants. UNESCO describes it as one of the most important trade and cultural centres in Asia and the world from the 12th to the 18th century.
The brick buildings rebuilt after an earthquake in 1780 give the bazaar its present form. Its covered lanes are divided by trade, from gold and jewellery to hand-woven carpets and shoes, with caravanserais, mosques and schools among them. It was protected in 1975, restoration with the full participation of shopkeepers began in 2000, and it was inscribed in 2010.
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