Çarshia e Madhe, the bazaar that never closed

Some Ottoman bazaars have turned into stage sets, and then there is Gjakova’s Çarshia e Madhe, still a street of shops, workshops and cafés. For me it is the place in Kosovo where you best understand how a merchant town worked a couple of centuries ago.

What the official record says

The ministry’s DTK inventory lists it as a 16th-century urban ensemble, under permanent protection since 19 February 1955. It counts 525 buildings of interest and explains that the bazaar gathered the town’s crafts, trade and administration. Today it describes it as a historic, tourist, craft and trading complex, built from local materials such as stone, timber, adobe, old tiles and lead.

The same record calls it the largest bazaar in south-east Europe. I have no comparative measurement to back that up, so I attribute it. What I can say is that it is big, and that it does not end after one street.

What lies inside

At the crossing of the bazaar’s two main streets you’ll find the Hadum Mosque, built in 1585, the building with which, in the local story, the town began. Next door, Hani i Haraqisë served for centuries as the merchants’ inn. According to the DTK, Ami Boué wrote about it in 1835, and three years later another visitor described Gjakova’s great han as holding about 100 guests and their animals. It has an old han, built after the mosque, and a new one of 1901, and today works as a hotel and events venue.

The 30 m clock tower stands on the open space known as Fusha e Sahatit. Fire destroyed it in 1912; the rebuild, timed for the centenary, stands near the old footings and reuses the inscribed stones on its west face. In the upper part of the bazaar, the Kryepazar, the 18th-century Sheh Emin tekke of the Sadi order is still in use. The other one I’d look for, the Gjakova tekke of Sheikh Danjolli, is Rifai, 19th-century, and stands at the entrance to town from Peja.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Gjakova before prices climb.

Hans, kullas and a lost school

The Çarshia e Jupave complex is another case of reuse. The DTK says the Batusha family built it in the 18th century, that its three-storey kulla burned in 1999 and that it was rebuilt to match the original. It now has a café on the ground floor, a meeting room and restaurant on the first and rooms on the second.

Not everything survived. The Medresa e Madhe, the great religious school completed in 1748, ran for 250 years, and all that is left is one outer wall, conserved after the last war. At the entrance to the old bazaar there is also the early 18th-century Sylejman Vokshi kulla, under permanent protection.

How to walk it

Entry is free, since these are public streets. I would start at the Hadum Mosque, head down to the clock tower and then lose myself in the side streets, looking into any courtyard that is open. Allow an hour for the walk and two or three with stops.

There are no official shop hours or reference prices, so I cannot tell you what to buy or how much to pay. The practical advice comes from the FCDO, which suggests keeping your card in sight when paying and using ATMs inside banks; change pounds before you travel or withdraw euros on arrival. Heading out towards Prizren, at kilometre 7 you’ll find the Terzi Bridge, paid for by the town’s tailors’ guild in the 18th century. For the wider town, see my Gjakova guide, and to compare it with Prizren, Peja and Pristina, see bazaars in Kosovo.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Gjakova Grand Bazaar and choose by the reviews.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Gjakova before prices climb.