Gold demand traditionally rises in summer, the season for weddings and circumcision ceremonies. Ahmet Aghan, another gold merchant in the bazaar, said the financial crisis had thinned out the mass of local buyers. Belt-tightening had forced many small gold holders to part with their cherished metal to make ends meet. At the moment business is not good. Buying gold in the bazaar is a ritual and not always a simple one.
Merchants stand in the doorways of their shops, eyeing potential customers.
A brief stop by a passer-by puts them on red alert within seconds. But, unlike vendors of other goods in the bazaar who besiege tourists with their relentless harangue, gold merchants never push clients to the point of anger. The rule is never to accept the first price offered. Bargaining, the very soul of the place, is a journey back in time. Hospitality reigns, coffee or tea is served and all forms of politeness exchanged.