Why is the Name of Discount Stores Usually “Tahtakale”?

When one of your friends says “Let’s go to Tahtakale”, you know what they mean and where you’re going, right? This name, which almost everyone has heard at least once, is usually appearing in “cheap markets” and in it you can find everything you are looking for.

Why do all Tahtakale stores have a similar product range and Why are they all called “Tahtakale” have you ever thought We are here with an interesting story that touches all the way to the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires.

Where do we see the name Tahtakale today?

Although shopping malls come to our mind first, Tahtakale; sometimes to an entire region, sometimes to a business center. gave his name. It is possible to see that this name is used in almost all regions of our country.

In some regions, this name may appear as “Taht-el Kal’a or Taht-al Kal’a”. In essence, the words Taht-al Kal’a are in Arabic, although they both come to the same door. under the castle and around the castle means like.

Tahtakale in Istanbul is thought to be one of the first places to bear this name.

Castle Bastion in Istanbul

Mehmet Kamil Berse, Editor-in-Chief of the City and Culture Magazine, found that one of the first uses of the name Tahtakale was in the Byzantine period. a castle in Istanbul he had suggested.

The castle in question only one zodiac sign (tower used for surveillance and defense in castles) Although it has survived to the present day, Berse; For a period, this castle covered a large area and one of the important trade centers says it is. Although we do not see a “castle” in the region, which preserved this feature throughout the Byzantine and Ottoman periods, there are still a wide variety of shops around it.

The term “Tahtakale Stock Exchange” emerged before 1980.

Before 1980, unofficial currency exchanges were taking place in this part of Istanbul. Because the reason for the unofficial foreign exchange buying and selling in Turkey at that time was to leave aside the foreign exchange buying and selling; Even the possession of foreign currency was prohibited.

For this reason, “Tahtakale Exchange” was used for foreign exchange transactions. When we came to 1980, it was about holding and buying and selling foreign currency. ban lifted. that period free market exchange rate The stock market is still in our lives today with the term “Tahtakale Market”.

“Tahtakale” is not only encountered within the borders of Türkiye.

Nicosia

In a wide variety of stores, over the years people have been able to find everything they were looking for in these areas. Because it is not difficult to guess that the foundations of today’s Tahtakale understanding come from here. However, despite all this, it is not correct to say with certainty that the first place of use of the name Tahtakale was Istanbul. For Even in Nicosia with a district of the same name you may encounter.

In Nicosia, the capital of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, there is a neighborhood called “Taht-el Kale” and a mosque with the same name in this neighborhood. The common feature of Tahtakale, which is located in Nicosia and Istanbul and even in many of our cities, is that they housed places such as trade centers, bazaars, or they were the trade center itself.

So the name Tahtakale is somehow Throughout history, it has been associated with trade and shopping. Stores with a wide variety of products, which we find everything we are looking for, may have taken the name “Tahtakale” for this reason.

But do you know where these terms come from?