Turkmen Carpets

This is also a very ancient form of art throughout Asia and East. In the past it was the only way to satisfy the aesthetic needs of nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes. There are centres practising this traditional craft in regions of Djizzak, Syrdarya, Kashkadarya and Karakalpakstan. Silk carpet production has become very popular in Samarkand.

It is not exaggeration to say that Turkmen carpets have been always considered the best. In ancienttimes pure woolen Parphian carpets were highly valued. They where brought to the world markets by the Great Silk Road ran through the territory of modern Turkmenistan. During archeological excavations there were discovered fragments of the carpets made about 2000 years ago. The Venetian medieval merchant Marko Polo rapturously wrote Turkmen carpets were the thinnest and the most beautiful. This quality is what presently made Turkmen carpets are still famous for. Enough to say that they are in great demand in more than 50 countries. Recognized as unique work of art there is the carpet called Turkmen Kalby made by Turkmen carpet-makers. Its size is 193 square metres.

Besides carpets themselves since time immemorial Turkmen carpet-make have made different articles of carpet material. Those are "chuval" for storing clothes and household utensils, bags of different size and purpose called "torba", for example, "gazan torba" for caldrons, "chanak torba" for wooden tableware and kitchen utensils, "chemchi torba" or "duz torba" for salt, traveler's bag "hurdjun" to be fixed to saddles of horsemen; door-curtains called "gapylyk". Articles made of carpet materials decorated graceful Turkmen horses and camels during holiday rides. Those were horse-cloth "at-haly", saddle carpet "aerlik" camel's attire for wedding rides.