The Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex is one of the largest covered markets in the world, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2010. Tabriz has been a trading city since antiquity, sitting on the Silk Road between Asia and Europe, and its merchants were known to medieval travellers. The brick-vaulted halls that survive today mostly date from the eighteenth century, after the great earthquake of 1780, but the pattern goes back much further, with domed halls called timcheh, courtyards called sarai and long, covered passages, each devoted to a different trade.
Walk in and you are in a maze of brick arches, lit by shafts of light from small openings in the domes, and filled with the smell of spices, leather, rosewater and tea. The Timcheh-ye Mozaffarieh is a domed hall where carpets are sold, spread over the floor and hung from the walls, and it is a good place to learn about knots and dyes from sellers who will happily explain. Other halls sell gold, shoes, copper, hats, nuts and dried fruit, and a bazaar tea house is a good place to rest, with its samovar and sugar cubes. The call to prayer drifts through the halls.
Riding to the bazaar is a matter of arriving and parking. The area around it is a congested knot of narrow streets, one-way systems and pedestrians, so it is wise to park on the edge, in a car park or at a hotel, and walk the last part. Friday is the weekly holiday, when most of the bazaar is closed and the streets are quiet, so aim for another day. In summer, it is cool inside, and in winter it offers shelter from the cold.
Fuel and food are readily available across a city of 1.4 million, with filling stations on all main roads. After the bazaar, a bowl of abgoosht, a hearty meat and chickpea stew served in a small pot, is a perfect meal, and the sweets from the old shops make good gifts. Keep an eye on your belongings in the crowd, and be ready to haggle politely. Accept the offer of tea, which is part of the business of buying.