Duhok Old Bazaar

Duhok's old bazaar occupies the original commercial heart of the city, a network of narrow covered lanes that developed around a central caravanserai site. The covered sections retain their traditional character: copper and brass workshops whose smiths still work by hand, spice stalls selling everything from dried mountain herbs to imported saffron, fabric merchants with bolts of cloth stacked floor-to-ceiling, and tailors producing traditional and contemporary Kurdish dress.

The bazaar is at its most atmospheric in the morning, when the lanes fill with locals on daily shopping errands and the sounds of hammering and the smell of fresh bread mix through the covered alleys. An outer ring of more contemporary shops surrounds the traditional core, selling electronics, shoes, and household goods.

The kebab restaurants at the bazaar's edge are an institution: rotating spits and charcoal grills visible from the street, with workers grinding and seasoning meat in the open. A full lunch — kebab, rice, salad, and tea — costs a fraction of a comparable meal at a tourist-oriented restaurant. This is where locals eat.