It’s not just on the financial markets where people are looking to protect their wealth. In Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, traders have been buying and selling gold since 1461, the early days of the Ottoman Empire. Its shops attract between 250,000 and half a million visitors daily.
One Moroccan tourist on a visit to the market told euronews (check video after the jump) the quality of gold varies from one store to another, but the prices are usually good. “Nevertheless, I always negotiate,” he said. An estimated 22 billion euros worth of gold is traded at the Grand Bazaar each year.
(Image by Faraways / Shutterstock.com is of an unidentified salesman lining op bracelets at the Grand Bazaar on June 9, 2011 in Istanbul.)