A flea market is called ‘’ Pazar ‘’, Each district has it own pazar permanent location but may have an open air ‘pazar’. The pazars in Istanbul can contain a variety of products; furniture, antiques, clothes and even food. Of course, food is not flea but people can actually hit the road toward a flea market to buy vegetables, fruit, cheese or different kinds of food.
Other flea markets only contain specific type of products like furniture only.

What makes it an attractive place for people is its cheap prices, all products in pazar are cheap compared to normal shops outside the streets. In fact, a lot of Turkish people purchase food and products from pazars because of its suitable prices.

When you walk across flea markets of Istanbul you will notice that products are not actually flea! They are just cheap.. Of course you will also find flea products like old Radio or old Bed in a good condition, old Clock, old ottoman items and homemade small products but in general, it has a lot of new cheap products.

Istanbul has a lot of flea markets. Here are some of the most famous flea markets in istanbul:

Ferikoy flea market:
The big area that is used as a car park, changes every Sunday to an open area of many tables rowed beside each other and holding items that are displayed by their owners, some of them are old such as Ottoman era ‘hamam’ (turkish baths) taps and door knobs, and some are new homemade product such as pearl coasters.
If you keep walking across the pazar you will find a table where you can buy fresh Turkish tea with toasted sausage sandwich, keep digging in and follow the great smell of the Turkish food ‘’Gozleme’’, cheese or meat inside a dough baked on a grill.
Ferikoy Flea market open every Sunday from 9:00 am until 07:00 pm and it is located in the European side of Istanbul at Osmanbey district near Taksim.

Tuesday Market

The ‘Tuesday Bazaar’ is also held on a Friday.  When entering this open market you will be amazed with the colors and enormous number of products and people around it. Tuesday market actually contains every single kind of fresh fruit and vegetables,  freshly pressed olive oil in bottles that had no labels, fresh olives of all tastes, colours, shapes and stuffings; dried fruit under large clear plastic domes, cheap clothes, cheap Chinese imports and then right at the end – the junk market. Old bric-a-brac, machine parts, tools, and cutlery.
Tuesday Market or Sali Pazari is located in the Asian side of istanbul and start at 08:00 am and closes at 07:00 pm.

Horhor Bit Pazarı

A unique flea market located ın fatıh neighborhood. Unlıke other markets, Horhor market is a seven floors building hidden in between narrow streets and very hard to find. The sellers there are permanent and sell second hand furnıture, antıques, handmade furnıture and wooden items for houses. Horhor bit pazarı ıs not expensive in comparison to furniture stores but ıt ıs not as cheap as you could imagine.

Second hand furniture shops

While walking in Istanbul’s narrow streets you will see an old man sitting in front of a shop gathering several old chairs and tables, maybe a fridge and a TV also. This type of shops is called second hand furniture, they collect furniture that is not used anymore as long as its can be used, they polish it, paint it and fix what is broken in it and resell it for a cheap price.
Imagine or not, but sometimes you can find a masterpiece that is more beautiful and in better quality than well known brands, this is because of the man working on it.
People in Istanbul tend to give away furniture that is not needed anymore but not throwing it away ! unless its dead

Flea markets are spread all over Istanbul both Asian side and European side, and people from all kinds and types hit the roads every week to theses markets to buy from it. Why not? Fruit and vegetables are fresh and cheap, antiques are polished, in good condition, and can add a unique touch to house.