Bergama and Kula

Bergama is a little town in northwest part of the country; here there are approximately eighty villages, which weave Bergama carpets. This ancient city was one of the most powerful and richest regions in Anatolia. The history of carpet waving in this region has a very old background. Bergama carpets have always been woven as wool on wool material combination while wefts are all red. Knotting density of these rugs is about 12 knots per square cm. and mostly come in three - four square meter sizes. Those woven in Canakkale are slightly larger. Two main groups can divide motifs: as Kozak type and Turkish type. Kozak type rugs have big geometrical designs, these ones remind Kozak - Gendje region rugs. In Turkish type usually designs are very floral and embroidered with leaves of the pine trees. They consist mainly of two colors, the dark reds and blues. In these rugs red color, which is used for dyeing the wool yarns, makes the pile less thick than the rest of the surface after a certain time, so blue motifs appear higher. The evil eyes that you see at the edges give them an exceptionally unusual appearance.

Kula is the name of a town in Western Anatolia where these wool carpets are made. The village carpets of Kula are woven on a woolen warp and weft and for the most part have strong geometric designs. The colors are rich but soft with earth tones of rust, green, gold, and blue being common; however, the dominant colors are pastel. The most important characteristics of these carpets are that they are woven with 100% wool yarn and have varying patterns, colors and sizes. Kula carpets contain 160,000 knots per square meter. Along with all Kula patterns various Anatolian patterns are frequently seen in Kula carpet. Kula carpets resemble those of other Western Anatolian products like, Usak and Gordes, with their wide borders restrained colors.

They also tend to have a short and somewhat lusty pile. Borders usually consists of a number of stripes of about equal width decorated with little stars and flowers. The earliest patterns of Kula carpets were either geometrical or composed of highly stylized nomadic forms. In the last century Kula carpets often had richer and more imaginative floral designs. At the end of the 19th. Century they were exported to Europe by the thousands, often under the name of Usak and Gordes carpets. The typical features were a light grey or cream background with floral patterns in pink and blue. Kula carpets, which have furnished many homes, are very elegant. They were particularly favored for the dining room and libraries.

Coarsely woven natural Rugs serve as durable floor rugs, but lacily woven types made of delicate fibers should be used as wall hangings.