Furnishings

In the heart of the Central Anatolia region of Türkiye, a cultural resurgence is underway as women in Niğde's Bor district seek to revive a dormant tradition through a workshop where they meticulously weave the city's hand-made Obruk carpets.

In the southern province of Antalya, nearly 20,000 handwoven carpets and rugs from all over Türkiye are being laid out in fields after restoration, as some field owners guard the carpets, ranging in price from 3,000 to 400,000 Turkish Liras, against theft and rain throughout the night.

Türkiye aims to take over the market leadership in the carpet industry from India in handmade rugs, which was once one of the most purchased Turkish products by tourists, a sector representative has stated.

The Börekçi family and other families in the Döşemealtı district of the Mediterranean coastal province of Antalya returned to the fields two months earlier this year to lay their hand-woven carpets under the sun to give them their pastel colors.

Najet unravels an old pair of jeans, raw material for a designer carpet: traditional, eco-friendly crafts are being adapted for new markets thanks to a project born in the Tunisian desert.

"I learned to weave at a young age, from my mother," said the 52-year-old from the oasis town of Nefta, 500 kilometers south of Tunis.

Hand-woven carpets lying in fields for sterilization and gaining their pastel colors in the sun create colorful images in Turkey's Mediterranean resort city of Antalya. (AA Photo)

As snowfall started to blanket Turkey, Black Sea provinces also had their share. (AA Photo)

Ramazan Yumuşak is the last representative of a family who has been repairing "antique carpets with antique carpets" for three generations in Istanbul, which is noted as one of the well-known carpet and rug centers of the world. He wants to keep the tradition alive by passing his 36-year profession, which he started at the age of 11, to future generations.

A carpet trader, who collects hundreds of handmade carpets and rugs from across Anatolia, lays them out in the sun in Turkey's top tourism destination Antalya. 

The oldest carpet in the world, which was removed from a grave at the foot of the Altai Mountains in 1949, belongs to Turkish tribes, a study on the motifs and engravings on it has found.

İbrahim Tellioğlu, a historian from Ondokuz Mayıs University, said that the visuals, figures and motifs used on the carpet are a product of Turkish culture.