Carpets and Kilims

Turkish carpets and kilims are internationally renowned, and are steeped in the history and traditions of this fantastic country. They were brought to the Mediterranean coast in the 11th century by the nomad Seljuk people who used them as an essential pieces of tent furniture and since then, the craftsmanship of weaving has been handed down from mother to daughter. Traditionally, natural dyes obtained often by a lengthy and laborious process were used to colour the wool, cotton, or silk. in the second half of the 9th century chemical dyes gradually started to replace the old vegetable dyes so watch out for pink and orange colors in rugs claiming to be older than this as they could never have been obtained from natural dyes.

The multilingual carpet seller will try and attract you into his shop where he will flamboyantly hurl carpet after carpet in the air in front of you whilst you sit back and sip on a glass of apple tea. A good carpet salesman will treat you to the full history of the carpet, the meaning of the design and will even show you how the intricate knots are tied. A Turkish carpet can involve a considerable amount of Money, but it can make a good investment and it is an unforgettable souvenir.