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. Bedestens originally began as a place to house fabric and textile sellers but eventually more precious goods were stored here. As this type of building was more secure and could be locked at night, it became the place where the most important goods (e.g. gold and jewellery) were stored, protected, regulated, and sold. Besides the trading of jewellery and textiles, slaves were also sold in bedestens.
Expert merchants in bedestans also assisted in commercial disputes, and in some cases officials were employed here to carry out similar regulatory duties. Waqf agreements (inalienable trusts in Islamic law) governed the function and upkeep of the bedesten and could provide salaries for these employees.
The first major bedestens were constructed in the capitals of the Ottoman Empire which served as economic hubs of the empire. The bedesten of Bursa was built in the late 14th century by Sultan Yildirim Bayezid I during his reign between 1389 and 1402. A second bedesten, the Sandal Bedesten, also known as the Small Bedesten (Küçük Bedesten) or New Bedesten (Bedesten-i Cedid), was built by Mehmed II about a dozen years later. These two bedestens formed the original core of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, which grew around them over the following generations. Often there were shops on the outside perimeter, but the interior chamber was where the most important goods were stored and sold.
- Gazi-Husrev Beg's Bezistan in Baščaršija, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Brusa Bezistan, also in Sarajevo
- Bezistan in Old Bazaar, Skopje, Macedonia
- Bezistan in Bitola, Macedonia
- Bedesten of Serres, Greece (today it houses the Archaeological Museum of Serres)
- Bedesten of Larissa, Greece
- Bedesten in Nicosia, Cyprus (originally a Greek Orthodox church from the 6th and 14th centuries, architecturally different from all other Ottoman bedestens)
- Bedesten of Thessaloniki, Greece
There are also reproductions after the Ottoman era, such as Bezistan, Belgrade.