Money Markets

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Middle East & North Africa

From the bazaars of Istanbul to the contemporary towers of the Gulf states, these exchanges bridge ancient commercial traditions and modern global finance.

33 exchanges
Exchange City Country Established Style
Merchant Quarter of Ur (Area AH) Ur Iraq c. 2000 BCE Old Babylonian merchant quarter
Karum Kanesh Kültepe Turkey c. 1950 BCE Old Assyrian commercial colony
Ugarit: The Grand-place and the Merchant Quarter Ugarit (Ras Shamra) Syria c. 1400 BCE Late Bronze Age merchant quarter and harbor
Commercial Harbor of Carthage Carthage Tunisia c. 814 BCE Phoenician-Punic commercial harbor and agora
House of Egibi Babylon Iraq c. 606 BCE Neo-Babylonian banking house
Samarkand Sogdian Trading Quarter (Afrasiab) Samarkand Uzbekistan c. 500 BCE Sogdian commercial city
Commercial Agora of Ephesus Ephesus Turkey 3rd century BC Hellenistic/Roman Agora
Fustat Commercial Quarter Fustat (Old Cairo) Egypt c. 10th century CE Fatimid-era commercial quarter
Alexandria Funduqs and Flax Market Alexandria Egypt c. 10th century CE Medieval Mediterranean port with funduq system
Aden Customs House (Al-Furda) Aden Yemen c. 11th century CE Medieval Arabian port and customs complex
Isfahan Moneychangers' Bazaar (Qaysariyya) Isfahan Iran 1052 Safavid-Islamic
Aleppo Souks (Al-Madina Souq) Aleppo Syria c. 13th century CE Mamluk/Ottoman covered market complex
Tabriz Grand Bazaar Tabriz Iran 13th century Persian-Islamic bazaar complex
Galata Financial District Istanbul Turkey 1261 Genoese Medieval / Ottoman Revivalism
Khan Mirjan (Khan al-Mirjan / Khan Murjan) Baghdad Iraq 1359 (Jalayirid) Jalayirid / Islamic medieval brick architecture
Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı) and the Cevahir Bedesten Istanbul Turkey 1455/56 Ottoman classical (masonry bedesten / vaulted covered market)
Toqi Sarrofon (Dome of the Money-Changers) Bukhara Uzbekistan 1534 Timurid-Shaybanid domed bazaar
Kızlarağası Han (Kemeraltı Bazaar) İzmir (Smyrna) Turkey 1744 Ottoman caravanserai (han) with bedesten
Khan As'ad Pasha Damascus Syria 1751–1752 Ottoman provincial architecture with Damascene ablaq masonry
Istanbul Stock Exchange (Borsa İstanbul) Istanbul Turkey 1866 Late Ottoman
Alexandria Stock Exchange Alexandria Egypt 1883 Neoclassical
İzmir Commodity Exchange (İzmir Ticaret Borsası), Borsa Sarayı İzmir (Smyrna) Turkey 1891 First National Architecture (Birinci Ulusal Mimarlık)
Cairo Stock Exchange Cairo Egypt 1903 Art Nouveau / Neoclassical
Beirut Stock Exchange Beirut Lebanon 1920 French Mandate-era
Casablanca Stock Exchange (Bourse de Casablanca) Casablanca Morocco 1929 Art Deco
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Tel Aviv Israel 1953 Corporate Modernism
Tehran Stock Exchange Tehran Iran 1967 Modernist (original Glass Hall); Contemporary (new building)
Souk al-Manakh Kuwait City Kuwait 1978 Brutalist commercial (parking garage)
Bahrain Bourse Manama Bahrain 1987 Modern Islamic
Muscat Securities Market (MSM) Muscat Oman 1988 Modern Arabic
Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) Doha Qatar 1995 Contemporary Gulf
Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) Amman Jordan 1999 Modernist Institutional
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) Abu Dhabi UAE 2000 Contemporary Gulf Modernism