Photo Print Palestine HQ c.1898 Ottoman Bethlehem Market Place

The image shows the market in Manger Square in Bethlehem with the Mosque of Omar visible in the background and the Ottoman police station (the Saraya) on the right. On Saturdays, Manger Square would be flooded with people from all over the surrounding villages and countryside, come to buy and sell produce. In the 1920s, the British Mandate regime created the Bethlehem Municipal Market between the Farahiyyeh and Najajreh quarters of Bethlehem, thus clearing Manger Square of its traditional market.