Grand Bazaar

The Grand Bazaar is a commercial market located in Constantinople. During the Renaissance, the Grand Bazaar was the center of commerce within the Ottoman Empire.

History

Construction and conception

The Grand Bazaar was one of the earliest and most significant projects undertaken by Sultan Mehmet II following his conquest of Constantinople. Its construction began in 1456, and it opened to the public in 1461, offering items such as food, spices, pottery, and fabric.

The Grand Bazaar's close proximity to the Golden Horn waterway to the north provided merchants with easy access to and from ships arriving from all over the world. Its centralized location on the peninsula also ensured that all citizens had reasonable access to its bustling corridors.

Templar and Assassin presence

Ezio meeting with Piri in his shop within the Grand Bazaar.

By 1511, the Assassin Piri Reis had purchased a store within the Grand Bazaar. He first met with fellow Assassin Ezio Auditore there, and the two shared introductions before ending their succinct conversation.

Over the course of that year, Piri also taught Ezio how to utilize eight specific bombs. Convening in Piri's concealed shop, the sailor would provide Ezio with bombs and instruct him on how to use each of the devices.

During that same year, 1511, Ezio visited the market again to spy on the Janissaries and their captain, Tarik Barleti. The Assassin briefly conversed with a rug merchant who informed him that the Janissaries had confiscated a large portion of his stock. Once he departed from the merchant's stall, Ezio covertly pursued Tarik through the market and tailed him as he made his way around the city, ultimately arriving at the city harbor.

Later that same year, 1511, Ezio pursued a thief, who had stolen a valuable portrait from a local book store, on behalf of his friend, Sofia Sartor. He ultimately caught up with the thief and interrogated him harshly, demanding to know the state of the artwork. The thief eventually informed Ezio that he had sold the painting to a merchant in the Grand Bazaar, and so the Assassin left for the market.

Upon arriving at the market, Ezio swiftly located the merchant and stole the portrait from the stall while the merchant remained distracted, attempting to sell the art to passing citizens. Having recovered the stolen portrait, Ezio departed from the Grand Bazaar and made his way back to Sofia.

Concept art of the Grand Bazaar.

Sometime during 1511, Ezio returned to the bazaar again, with the intention of aiding one of his Assassin Apprentices. Ezio discovered his Apprentice in a courtyard within the Grand Bazaar, and helped his recruit to fend off the local guards who were attacking him. With the guards vanquished, Ezio and his Apprentice then began to flee from the Grand Bazaar.

However, during their escape the two were ambushed by a Templar vizier, Damat Ali Pasha, and his two guards. The vizier approached Ezio with his men, which allowed the Apprentice to make his way behind the Templar, and steathily assassinate him. With Damat dead, the two Assassins killed the remaining guards and escaped the Grand Bazaar.

Trivia

• As noted in the Assassin's Creed: Revelations artbook, the Grand Bazaar is the largest interior zone in any Assassin's Creed game.

Gallery

• Concept art of the bazaar for Assassin's Creed: Revelations
  Concept art of the bazaar for Assassin's Creed: Revelations
• 
  Turkish citizens shop inside the bazaar
• A view from within the Grand Bazaar
  A view from within the Grand Bazaar
• 
  Guards patrolling within the bazaar

Reference

• Assassin's Creed: Revelations