Tarsus's Bazaar Tradition and Şalgam Culture

A City Built on a Mountain Pass

Tarsus sits exactly where the Çukurova plain meets the Toros mountains. The Gülek Pass, within the district's borders, was known in antiquity as the Cilician Gates — a narrow corridor linking the Mediterranean coast to Central Anatolia.

Caravanserais still standing in the pass, alongside inscriptions from the reign of the Roman emperor Caracalla, show the route was in use since antiquity. The modern Pozantı–Tarsus highway still runs through the same gap in the mountains.

The Old Bazaar and the Kırkkaşık Bedesten

At the center of Tarsus's historic trade district stands the Kırkkaşık Bedesten, built in 1579 to fund the upkeep of the adjacent Tarsus Grand Mosque. The five-domed building holds eighteen shops across roughly 600 square meters.

The 17th-century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi recorded two caravanserais, one covered bazaar and over 400 shops clustered west of the Grand Mosque — evidence of a trading district that once supported dozens of guilds, from silk merchants to coppersmiths.

How Şalgam Ferments

Şalgam, Turkey's dark-purple fermented drink, starts as the sour, salty brine of purple-carrot pickles, flavored with an aromatic turnip variety called çelem and fermented in barrels with ground bulgur and rock salt.

The traditional method combines sourdough and carrot fermentation and takes 10 to 12 days; industrial production cuts that to 4 or 5 days. Its sour, faintly sharp taste comes from lactic acid and ethanol produced during fermentation.

Why It's Purple, Not Turnip-Colored

Despite its name, şalgam's deep color doesn't come from turnip — it comes from the purple carrot that forms the base of the brine. The turnip variety used, çelem, contributes aroma and a light sharpness, not the drink's signature hue.

A Sour Companion to Kebab

Şalgam comes in mild and spicy versions, sold by street vendors from large goblets or by pickle shops making their own batches. Across Adana, Mersin and Osmaniye, it's most often drunk alongside grilled meat — its sharp acidity cutting through rich, fatty kebab rather than competing with it.