Part of Living in Turkey is Buying a Turkish Rug

Lady Hiva and I knew that we wanted to buy a Turkish rug before we left Turkey. Now that our time here may be a bit shorter than we had planned we had to start looking. Previously we had gone to see some rug presentations at the Grand Bazaar. There were some we liked and some we didn’t. True Turkish rugs are a hefty investment because they last for awhile—a long while—so we wanted to have one that we both liked.

There was a short presentation at work the other day and we went. It was so interesting to hear more of the story behind the rugs and their designs. Every detail is different. Each area of the Middle East has their own style, even in different parts of Turkey have different styles. We learned about the families that created rugs with designs passed down for generations.

As they talked about the different types of rugs and materials that are being used, it was interesting to hear how they add details like the ram’s horn for strength, a river and scorpion’s tail for life longevity, curled arms like a fertile woman with hands on her hips, and of course symbols of luck like the “Evil Eye.” Each rug told a story. I could not help but remember when I was younger I would sit down on the floor of Grandma White’s house on the rug she had brought from the Navajo families when she lived in Arizona. Those rugs, too shared stories. One that I loved to hear was that the Navajo believed that one part of the rug was always left imperfect to let the evil out of your home. (Now I am not sure if that is true Navajo folklore or if that is just something that Grandma White would tell us, but I remember sitting on that rug for hours looking for the imperfection).

We ended up getting ready to buy a large rug from the Kayseri region of Turkey. Then just as we were going to pay (the rug was already in the bag) Lady Hiva decided to to change and get 3 smaller rugs she liked better for the same price.

We ended up with a  rug in a Baklava pattern from Azerbaijan, an bright colored Afghani rug (my favorite) and a large flat rug made is from the South-Eastern region of Turkey. We are excited to see where these rugs end up in our home. No matter where we go we will take a little piece of Turkey with us. (or three)