Silk

Under China’s Mongol rulers, the Silk Road was a private enterprise scheme, an example of capitalist free trade producing prosperity

Nearly all the workers lost their houses, the accountant and vet disappeared along with their families, but after the deadly earthquakes that devastated Türkiye's Hatay province, "the silk of peace" is helping make new connections.

"I had to convince myself to start up again," admits Emel Duman, rolling between her fingers a small and incredibly fine ball of fibers.

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For 13 years, Pjetraj and her family have run a small silk farm in the village of Dajc, part of a wide low-lying and fertile plain in the region of Zadrima in north Albania.

Zadrima is known among Albanians for their motif-rich, labour-intensive handwork in tablecloths or silver ornaments, whose motifs usually combine red and white and bear the name Zadrimore.

The prospect of creating a sericulture park in northern Evia, an ambitious project of national and local importance with multiple benefits, but also the simultaneous recovery of Greek sericulture and silk industry, was expounded upon by the Deputy Minister of Agricultural Development and Food, Mr. Simos Kedikoglou, in a meeting with relevant agencies.

While wool, hair and mohair production increased in Turkey last year, honey and silkworm cocoon production decreased, data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) showed yesterday.

The historical area in the eastern province of Erzincan, which is one of the most important Urartian cities and home to the Altıntepe Castle on the historical Silk Road, awaits opening after becoming an archaeology park. (AA Photo)

At Kostas Mouhtaridis' silk factory in Soufli, the non-stop "clunk-click" of the weaving machinery is a loud but welcome sound.
The factory is a few hundred meters (yards) from the Evros River, which forms Greece's natural border with Turkey. It is one of Europe's most heavily militarized areas, patrolled constantly to deter illegal immigration into the European Union.

A new business initiative based in Kavala combines art and tradition with new technologies in the production of silk scarves. The venture, called Mantility, aims to promote the works of Greek designers on silk.

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) National Palaces Hereke Carpet and Silk Weaving Factory has been producing silk furnishing for palaces and mansions for 176 years while keeping its feature as a "museum factory."

The town of Soufli, near Greece's border with Turkey in the region of Evros, was one of Greece's major silk-producing centres up until the early 20th century. Today it is home to the Silk Museum, where you can find out about the history of the pre-industrial procedure of silk farming and processing.