Turkey Trip—Turkish Carpet Experience--1/12/2010

On the way back to the hotel from our visit to the Ephesus site, we stopped in the center of Kusadasi where we were invited into a Carpet shop. There we were offered tea, Turkish coffee, and sodas and treated to a lesson about Turkish carpets.


One of the employees demonstrated how Turkish carpets are made, both the double knot (best) and single knot methods. She was working on a silk and cotton carpet, about 3 feet by 4 feet in size. We saw the pattern she was using, and the owner said it would probably take her a year to complete it.


Turkish rugs from each of several areas of Anatolia were laid out for us,

and we began to see the predominant colors for each region (natural colors from the region are used) and the differences in the kinds of patterns or designs from region to region.




We saw some fairly new rugs and many older rugs—from 30 to 50 years ago.





Weaving carpets by hand is becoming a lost art as young people leave their home villages for industrial jobs in the larger cities. I so wanted to buy a rug as a remembrance of my Turkey trip. Alas, I seem to have champagne tastes but live on a beer budget. The owner offered some great deals, but none which I could actually afford. I still enjoyed getting to see and touch so many beautiful rugs!