On both sides of the paved street are hundreds of shops, some tiny, displaying local crafts on inlaid wooden tables. Shop windows are crammed with robes, carpets and shimmering sabres. It is easy to be seduced by the vast array of products, egged on by adults and children who have no hesitation in approaching passers-by. The souk is named after Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II, who modernised it by arranging shops on two levels and covering it with a metal roof.