Bartın Women's Market

Bartın Women’s Market, known locally as the “Galla Market” or “Garıla Market,” is a traditional folk market unique to the city of Bartın in Türkiye’s Western Black Sea Region. It is a market where only women participate as producers and vendors. Market functions as a commercial space where female producers from Bartın’s city center and nearby villages directly offer products they have made with their own labor to consumers.

The history of the Bartın Women’s Market is rooted in the integration of women’s labor into local production and trade. Its origins extend back to the 17th and 18th centuries, when Bartın began to develop as a commercial center during the Ottoman period. Evliya Çelebi noted in the 17th century that a market was held in Bartın on Saturdays; Uluslu İbrahim Hamdi, in his 18th-century work titled Atlas, also mentioned the market activities in Bartın.

From the 19th century onward, women living in rural areas began coming to Bartın’s city center to sell goods produced in their homes or gardens, gradually shaping the market into its present form. During this period, as men left the region to work in forestry, shipbuilding, and mining, women took on the responsibility of supporting their households. This necessity compelled women to become both producers and sellers, directly engaging in economic life.

^{Bartın Galla Market (}Bartın Governorship⁾

The women who sell at the market are primarily producers from Bartın’s city center and surrounding villages. Women play an active role throughout the entire process as both producers and sellers. This dynamic contributes to women’s economic empowerment and increased social visibility in rural areas. Women assume not only an economic but also a social role at the market. The market serves as a social space where women exchange knowledge, share experiences, and foster solidarity within their communities.

The majority of products sold at the market are produced by women. These include seasonal vegetables and fruits, dairy products, eggs, honey, grape molasses, jams, village bread, tarhana, erişte, and handmade household crafts. The market operates on a model based on individual production rather than wholesale procurement. The origins of the products are mostly villages and neighborhoods within 20 kilometers of Bartın’s city center.

The Bartın Women’s Market attracts not only local residents but also tourists visiting the city. Held on specific days of the week in Bartın’s city center, it continues to serve as an important source of income for female producers. In recent years, projects have been developed with support from the municipality and several civil society organizations to preserve the market’s structure and support women producers. This structure, which promotes women’s economic empowerment, is regarded as one of the most significant examples in Türkiye.