bedesten

thumb|Exterior view of the Bedesten of Edirne, Turkey, built by Sultan [[Mehmed I between 1413 and 1421 CE]] A bedesten (variants: bezistan, bezisten, bedestan) is a type of covered market or market hall which was historically found in the cities of the Ottoman Empire. It was typically the central building of the commercial district of an Ottoman town or city, where the most important and precious goods (like gold and jewellery) were kept and sold. Its function was comparable or equivalent to that of a qaysariyya in other (usually Arabic-speaking) regions, though the architecture of the latter could be different and be similar to that of a bazaar with its own streets.

== Etymology == The origin of the word is from Persian بزازستان bazzāzestān, which means 'place of drapers'. The word includes Persian suffix -istan. Ottomans pronounced it as Bazzistan and Bedesten.