Ulus Şehir Çarşısı

About Ulus Şehir Çarşısı

Ulus Şehir Çarşısı is a multi-storey shopping arcade on Anafartalar Caddesi in Ulus, Ankara's historic centre. Together with the nearby Anafartalar Çarşısı, Ulus İş Hanı and 100. Yıl Çarşısı, it forms the main commercial hub of the Hacı Bayram area. The building was designed by the Turkish architect Salih Bezci and completed in 1998. During the foundation work, a Roman-period road was found on the neighbouring plot; the site was declared protected, and later research showed that it held an odeon and that the road was a sacred route running towards the Column of Julian and ending at the Temple of Augustus. The arcade stands east of the former Sümerbank headquarters (now a faculty of Ankara Social Sciences University) and west of the historic Zincirli Mosque. Its main entrance on Anafartalar Caddesi is marked by a partly open, high-columned facade that lets daylight into the interior, and the aluminium-clad exterior with prismatic elements reflects rationalist and international-style influences. Inside, every unit is commercial, with shops lined up along a single linear route; some ground and first-floor shops on the east side open to the street, and two basement floors serve as a covered car park. In the mid-2000s a municipal renewal plan proposed demolishing the arcade and its neighbours for a large new covered bazaar, but professional chambers objected and the courts cancelled the project. Shops still trade from the building today, including on its upper floors. It is close to Ulus metro station and an easy walk from Ulus Hali, Suluhan and the Roman sites around Hacı Bayram.