Macedonia

Markets have always been one of the liveliest places of a town, I guess it's the same with the Old Bazaar in Skopje. The Old Bazaar is the biggest bazaar in the Balkans outside Istanbul (which surely makes it worth being in my market collection!). It is a quite old market-place as well, the earliest known documented sources that point out to the existence of a merchant quarter on the bazaar's territory date back to the 12th century. The bazaar was heavily damaged by the earthquakes in 1555 and 1963, and the destructions caused during the First and the Second World War. It was reconstructed on several occasions later and nowadays it's a a cultural heritage of particular importance for the country with a permanent protection (the Macedonian Parliament adopted a low that recognizes it as such in 2008), testifying the multicultural  heritage of different civilizations. 

I have to thank to Predrag for this multiview with wonderful stamps on the back :) The left one was issued in 2006, showing the well-known (at least here) Nikola Tesla. The right one is an Eastern stamp from 2001.