carpets history

The oldest completed knotted carpet, dated to 5th century BC, was found in the frozen tomb of a nomadic chieftan at Pazyrk in the Altai Mountains. It is believed that the art and craft of the knotted pile carpet began, then developed and flourished to a high technical and artistic level amidst the pastoral nomads in the steppes of central Asia. The knotted carpet then reached the middle east in the 8th or 9th centuries with the nomadic Turkish tribes who began migrating into the region at that time. Very little is then known about the history of the carpet until the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries when examples from the Turkish Selcuk Period were found in various Turkish mosques. these Selcuk examples are today on display in the Turkish and Islamic Arts museum. Often depicted in european paintings in the 16th century, carpets were used by the artist to indicate the high economic and social status of the subject.
Modern Carpet History really began in the 19th century, when large cottage industry and workshop productions flourished to meet the ever increasing demand for handmade carpets on the international markets.
Pazyrk
Our carpets at Indigo Gallery are meticulously chosen to reflect the finest creative skill and technical quality of some of Asia's greatest unknown women artists.

CARPETS

In recent years there has been a rapidly increasing interest in carpets. Many books, catalogues, introductory texts and more specialised works have appeared and yet despite all the research put into these publications, the subject of carpets still bewilders and confuses some people. Despite this carpets are still highly sought after, with their rich warm tones, and extraordinary patterns and motifs. Each hand made carpet is a totally individual work of art representing a level of craftsmanship seldom surpassed.
In this brief introduction we hope to give you a greater insight into the history, traditions and wonderful uniqueness of artistry, that ensures the continued demand for high quality hand made carpets throught out the world.

BOUTIQUE & CAVE HOTELS

* Kapadokya Museum Hotel
* Kapadokya Gul Konakları
* Kapadokya Cave Suites
* Kapadokya Anatolian Houses
* Kapadokya Esbelli Evi
* Kapadokya Yunak Evleri
* Les Maisons De Cappadocia
* Kapadokya Elkep Evleri
* Kapadokya Sacred House
* Kapadokya Gamirasu
* Kapadokya Kelebek Hotel
* Kapadokya Kayadam Hotel
* CCR

Lifestyle Walking Tour

Enjoy a highly specialized ‘Lifestyle Walking Tour’ that takes you into traditional village family life of Central Cappadocia visiting local homes and rock-hewn villages and exploring many spectacular lesser-known valleys such as the Pigeon’s valley, the White valley, and other unspoiled sights of the Central Anatolia plateau. (app 14 kms hiking) In the late afternoon, enjoy a kilim weaving demonstration and educational session on the centuries’ old craft of carpet weaving.

Rocks & RuIns Tour

This tour is specially designed to discover the hidden treasures of many out of the way, spectacular, interesting and realistic sights of Cappadocia. Our first stop is at the fascinating multilevel underground city of Kaymakli. Continue to Soganli Valley, also known as the ‘Valley of Dolls’ with its many Byzantine period rock tombs, enjoying a leisurely hike and exploring the Greek style churches and monastery ruins. Then we pass through the remote villages of Guzeloz, Ortakoy, Baskoy and Sahinefendi. We visit Taskinpasa Caravanserai, before arriving at Cemil village, a typical small Cappadocian village. Following a brief stop, we continue to Mustafa pasha (Sinasos) for lunch. After which we visit the village, renowned for its excellent Ottoman and Greek architecture. Then we continue to the Pancarlik valley and enjoy a easygoing stroll before returning to your hotel.

Remote Canyons Tour

Your journey starts by a visit to the Uchisar castle. Then we continue across the fertile plains of Cappadocia to the multilevel underground city of Derinkuyu. After lunch near the Canyon of Ihlara, we enter the sheer-sided canyon of Ihlara, in which there runs a stream, and on.both sides there are rock hewn churches. We enjoy a 4 km hike through the Ihlara valley to to arrive in the Belisirma village. Then we leave for Selime to visit this surreal ancient monastic site and several rock hewn churches. We continue along the Silk Road back to Cappadocian natural park, en route we stop at the well-preserved Agzikarahan Caravanserai, before returning to your hotel.

CappadocIa Complete tour

A full day tour of Cappadocia (the land of beautiful horses) view some of the fascinating frescoed and rock carved churches of the Göreme open-air museum, Visit the historic village of Cavusin, continue to Avanos for lunch, and visit the pottery artisans in the traditional rock carved village of Avanos. Stop at the majestic fairy-chimneys of Pasabag, take a gentle stroll among the naturally sculptured rock shapes of Devrent Valley. Continue to Urgup to sample some of the wine produced in the area. Enjoy a panoramic view over Göreme from the Red and Rose Valleys, before returning to your hotel.

Maps of Cappadocia (Kapadokya), Turkey

Here's a map of the region called Cappadocia (Kapadokya) in Central Anatolia, including the towns of Aksaray, Avanos, Derinkuyu, Göreme, Güzelyurt (near Ihlara), Hacibektas, Kaymakli, Kayseri, Kirsehir, Nevsehir, Nigde and Ürgüp.

Kapadokya, George Hudson Street

Turkish food is a little more than a greasy kebab after a night on the lash, and you can definitely find a large range to choose from here. Alongside the more traditional (and very well cooked) kebabs are some dishes with a bit more flavour and texture, and I would suggest eating one of these.
I had aubergine stuffed with charcoal-grilled lamb and green peppers which had been finished in a tomato sauce, and then the whole dish was topped with a Bachamel cheese sauce. This also had a large tomato and cucumber side salad and a rather modest portion of rice. For pudding I had kadayif - which has been my favourite pudding since I was a kid, since it’s essentially a shredded wheat with honey-pistachio goodness. This was good, although I’ve had better. The main dish managed to maintain my interest, and was something I would recommend.
I also seemed to have made the best selection. Most of the other people I was dining with made choices that, although they were very nice, were a bit bland (there is naturally only so much you can do if it’s just meat and rice).
I tried a homemade sausage from another dish, and although it was very tasty, there was nothing extra going on. The portions of rice were a little small too, and not all dishes had a side salad like mine. I also tasted somebody else’s baklava, which was a little bitter. The prices were reasonable though (except for the drinks, but that’s nothing new), and the Turkish coffee at the end of the meal was also very good. In the end I paid about £17 for two courses plus coffee and tip.
I didn’t think much of the service - a little too quick and they placed us on a bad table where it was hard to serve everybody and the dishes had to be passed back and forth, even though here was plenty of space in the restaurant and we could have sat somewhere else. Although I might eat there again, it would be only because I knew which dishes to choose and which to avoid
Reviewed byN. Luke Abraham