The story
Qaysari Bazaar Heritage Festival in Erbil
Erbil's Qaysari Bazaar is a real and extensively documented historic marketplace, established in the early 13th century just south of the UNESCO-nominated Erbil Citadel. It has long served as the city's first official market for goods such as gold, textiles, spices, handwoven rugs, copperware and silverware, though a specific annual 'heritage festival' branded event there was not independently confirmed.
Just south of the Erbil Citadel, one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited sites and a UNESCO-nominated location, sits the Qaysari Bazaar, a covered market whose roots reach back to the early 13th century.