Old Çarshia (Bazaar) in Gjakova

• Author: Bekim Vishaj
• Position: University of Tirana
• Pages: 268-270

Vol. 1 No. 1

January 2017

European Journal of Economics, Law and Social Sciences

IIPCCL Publishing, Graz-Austria

ISSN 2519-1284

Acces online at www.iipccl.org

268

Old Çarshia (Bazaar) in Gjakova

PhD (C.) Bekim Vishaj

University of Tirana

Abstract

I`ll present in this manuscript some data relating to the “Bazaar in Gjakova” or “Çarshia e

Madhe” and its importance for the development of trade for Gjakova and its surroundings

and also for the Albanian lands in general. “The old bazaar” in Gjakova represents one of

the greatest monumental complexes not only for Gjakova but also outside its borders. Bazaar

of Gjakova was a great economic-, social- and cultural center for the region of Gjakova and

beyond it. Within this complex have been developed all possible cra s of that time. Scientifi c

works show that this complex was once a great economic-commercial, social and cultural

center in Kosovo and beyond it. In this sense main objective of this manuscript is the analysis

of the development of the old Bazaar of Gjakova.

Keywords: Old Bazaar, cultural heritage, cra s and cra smen.

Introduction

The city of Gjakova is known in wri en sources since the fi  h decade of the XIV

century, more precisely since 1348 when it used to belong to the region of Alltun -ihlis

with headquarters in Junik (Rizaj,1982, 206).

Gjakova as a city has had a favorable geographical position (Hadri, 1974, 13).

Its favorable geographical position and strategic importance helped to the fast

development as a center of cra smanship and trade place. Based on the records of

1571, Gjakova was still a village but it had a shopping center (Drançolli, 1984, 27-

41). Turkish traveler Evliya Celebi, had wri en that Gjakova had 2000 houses, two

monumental mosques, a Hamam and 300 stores (Çelebi, 1973, 129). Gjakova was

transformed into an administrative center emphasizing the development of industry,

trade, tourism, education and culture (Komuna e Gjakovës, 2015). Gjakova is known

for its large number of cultural and historic monuments.

Old Çarshia (Bazaar) – The complex of “Great Çarshia” is an area consisting of

hundreds of shops and other signifi cant cultural, historical and religious objects.

Çarshia has been built in the space between the river Krena and Qabrati, dating back

to the years 1594-1595 when Bizeban Sulejman Efendi known as Hadim Aga, built

a mosque in the last decade of the XVI (sixteenth century). The mosque was built

in the area of Jak Vula, so the city at the beginning was named Jakova (Drançolli,

2011, 128). During the late seventeenth century the construction of architectonic

and urban buildings in the shape of unique compound began, and this way “Great

Çarshia” was established, which took its defi nitive form in the second half of XIX

century. The city developed quickly and the main branches of the economy were:

Handicra , trade, and agriculture. “Old Çarshia” of Gjakova had 1100 stores, which