A bazaar is a traditional marketplace, and Skopje's Old Bazaar is one of the largest in south-eastern Europe. The lanes twist and turn between old stone buildings, and each little area was traditionally where one type of craftsman worked — jewellers in one street, leather workers in another, and coppersmith in a third. You can still find many of these same crafts being made by hand today.
The bazaar is not just a place to shop — it is a living neighbourhood. There are small tea-houses (called kafanas) where people sit for hours and chat, old mosques where people come to pray, and ancient caravanserais — large stone buildings that were once hotels for merchants who brought goods from far away by camel or horse.
Every morning the bazaar fills with noise and smell: fresh bread baking, metal being hammered, and music drifting out of workshops. Children from Skopje often visit on school trips to learn about the crafts of their grandparents' time. Many of the things you can buy here — a copper lamp, an embroidered cloth — are made by hand right there in the market.