World's most-visited landmark Grand Bazaar gets a facelift

Round-the-clock workers on the roof of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar take the cats' path to renovate the famous market, which topped the list of the world's most visited destinations in 2014. The roof renovation is estimated to cost 10 million Turkish lira (2.6 million euros, $2.7 million). Work began on July 14 in 2016, only one day before a coup attempt to oust the government, but the work went on.

The Grand Bazaar saw damage to its structure when it hosted the motorcycle chase scene in the 007 film "Skyfall". But Okan Erhan Oflaz, deputy mayor of the Fatih municipality where the Bazaar is located, says the damage caused "by the friends in Hollywood" was almost nothing compared to the wear and tear on the market over the years.

Turkish police secure the area around the Bazaar. The centuries-old marketplace has already undergone a security upgrade after a spate of terror attacks in Istanbul for which Kurdish militants and Islamic State jihadists are blamed. Understandably, for the bazaar's traders, the primary concern now is not the restoration but lack of tourists.

The Grand Bazaar hosts around 3,000 shops employing over 30,000 people. One of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, the Grand Bazaar was a trade hub during the Ottoman Empire, which dominated swathes of the Middle East and North Africa for more than six centuries until its collapse at the end of World War I.

The bazaar's Turkish name is Kapalicarsi, which means covered market. It is situated on Istanbul's historic peninsula, which is home to the Sultanahmet mosque and the famous Hagia Sophia.

Shop owners are primarily concerned with getting back to business, longing for the good old days when tourists flocked to the bazaar. Oflaz admits there has been a decline in the number of visitors to the iconic marketplace. But he claims that the bazaar is an "army in itself" with its 30,000 salespeople. And not only tourists visit, locals do too.