The Bedesten — the covered market hall — is the centrepiece of Konya's old bazaar, a stone-vaulted building dating to the fifteenth century that has functioned as a trading hall continuously since. Inside, the stalls now sell jewellery, embroidered fabrics, silver, and the leather and copper work that Konya has been known for since Ottoman times.
The streets around the Bedesten — Mevlana Caddesi to the east, the narrower lanes of İhsaniye to the south — form the rest of the bazaar district, with shops divided traditionally by trade: spice sellers in one alley, brass workers in another, hat-makers in a third. The atmosphere is calmer than Istanbul's grand bazaar and the prices are noticeably more reasonable. The whole quarter is at its most lively in the late afternoon, when traders come out for tea after the heat has gone off the streets.