Guide
The bedesten of Edirne was built in 1417-18 by Çelebi Sultan Mehmed as an endowment to the Eski Cami. It is a building of fourteen domes with decorated walls faced in cut stone of two colours, the domes covered with lead. It measures about 40.5 by 75 metres, with doors on all four sides and a pointed-arched window under each dome. Inside, there are fourteen vaulted cells along each of the long sides and four along each short side.
Evliya Çelebi gives an idea of what it held: he writes that the diamonds and jewellery in the bedesten were worth several Egyptian treasuries and that sixty night watchmen guarded them. The building was repaired in recent years and is in use today as a market. It is within walking distance in the city centre.
