The Grand Bazaar is the vast historic marketplace at the heart of Tehran, a sprawling maze of covered corridors that has been the commercial engine of the city for centuries. Its distinct sections sell everything from carpets, gold and jewellery to spices, fabrics, copperware and household goods, interspersed with mosques, banks and tea houses. Bustling and endlessly absorbing, it is both a place to shop and bargain and a living monument to the traditions of Iranian commerce, essential to any visit to the capital.