Imaret

An imaret is one of a few names used to identify the public soup kitchens built throughout the Ottoman Empire from the 14th to the 19th centuries. These public kitchens were often part of a larger complex known as a Waqf, which could include hospices, mosques, caravanserais and colleges. The imarets gave out food that was free of charge to specific types of people and fortunate individuals. Imarets were not invented by the Ottomans but developed under them as highly structured groups of buildings. Nonetheless, imarets indicate an appreciation of Muslim religious teachings about charity found in the Qur'an.

A Waqf is an “Islamic trust” that had important associations to the imaret within the Ottoman Empire. The Waqf helped the Sultan to provide essential services to citizens. It dealt with the operation and finances of institutions such as the soup kitchens and hospitals. The author Amy Singer mentions that the first few imarets were built in Iznik and Bursa in the 1330s. After the first couple of centuries, the number of imarets grew in the cities because the Waqf complex expanded in size. She states that by the 1530s, 83 imarets were located in the Ottoman Empire. In addition, imarets were urban institutions that were located in the capitals of the Ottoman Empire such as Bursa, Edirne, and Istanbul. The capitals were key locations for the Sultan to invest his time and money in. Places like Anatolia and the Balkans were also important locations for imarets because these were the centres of Ottoman rule. These three capitals all had something in common: each had a castle that took central positions, the bazaar was a few hundred metres from the castle, and Ottoman neighbourhoods grew up around imarets and religious community centres.

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