TURKISH HUMANISM AND ANATOLIAN MUSLIM SAINTS (DERVISHES)

Khorasan Dervishes , including “Haci Bektas-i Veli” the great Turkish thinker, had mixed up in the same culture, Christian communities living in Anatolia with Turkmen groups come by immigration, through activities of education and reconstruction and had not played a vital role in creation of cultural integrity in Anatolia and constitution of Central Authority. A number of Dervishes who had come to Anatolia by way of immigration settled in secluded road junctions, opened lodges (Zaviye) there, and these institutions established on unsettled territories had been converted into centers of culture, reconstruction and religion in time. (more…)

‘Yazma’ is the name given to the application of designs to textiles either directly with a brush called “kalem”, or using a wooden mold carved in relief. The major centers for this art in the Ottoman period were Amasra, Bartin, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul, Kastamonu, Tokat, Yozgat and Zile. The specimens from Istanbul rose to prominence with its hand-painted ‘Kandilli’ textiles, highly prized for their artistry, in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

Production of such hand-printed textiles commences with the application of designs previously drawn on paper to a piece of cloth stretched over a frame. The outlines are first traced using only a brush, and the areas to be colored are then filled in, exactly as if making a painting. Prints of this type are also known as ‘hand-prints’. In the combined technique, the outlines are first printed on the cloth with a wooden mold, and the colors then filled in with a brush. In block-printing both the black outlines and the colored areas are applied to the cloth using appropriate molds. (more…)

Anatolia’s thousand and one species of plants and gaily colored flowers are reborn in the imagination and inner eye of its women. The history of the decorative edging known in Europe as ‘Turkish lace’ is thought to date back as far as the 8th century B.C. to the Phrygians of Anatolia. Some sources indicate that needlework spread from 12th century Anatolia to Greece and from there via Italy to Europe. Traditionally, the headdresses and scarves women wore on their heads, the printed cloths, and prayer and funeral head coverings were decorated with various kinds of oya, which was also used on undergarments, to adorn outer garments, around the edges of towels and napkins and as a decorative element in many other places. In the Aegean region even men’s headdresses were decked with layers of oya. (more…)

Turkish fabrics are unique in weaving features, materials used and designs reflecting Turkish taste. Research on the subject identified about six hundred and fifty names such as Kadife, Atlas, Gezi, Canfes, Selimiye, Hatayi, Catma, Seraser, Sevayi, etc. The main material was silk with gold and silver threads, rich in motifs such as flowers (tulips, carnations, roses, spring blossom, and hyacinth), trees (apple, date palm, cypress), animals (peacock, deer), crescent moon, star motifs, fruit (pomegranate, apple, date, artichoke, pineapple), etc. An excellent reference on the subject is “The Art of Turkish Weaving”, by Nevber Gurusu, Redhouse, Istanbul, 1988 with an extended list of additional resources. (more…)

In Ottoman tradition young girls generally dressed plainly, it being considered improper for them to wear showy clothing made of fabric with silver or gold thread, sequins or embroidery until they were married. The wedding dress was therefore the first richly ornamented attire they wore. It was distinguished from the costume of other women at the ceremony by a bridal headdress, veil and other accessories. Ottoman wedding dresses made of rich fabrics in the fashionable style of the time were in bright colors like red, purple, blue or pink, while red was the traditional color for the daughters and sisters of the sultans. (more…)

LOCAL COSTUMES

Clothes and Finery, Traditional Arts and Craft, Folk Paintings

Clothes and Finery - Ornamentation

Traditional Clothes and Finery

Clothing was first introduced to protect man from the elements. It has come by its present forms as a result of the influence of social and moral values.

With the passing time, a wide variety in forms of clothing emerged. These differences were the result of social and economic structure, geography, the materials available and climate. (more…)

The Main Lines Of Dress From The Selcuks To The Early Ottoman Period

The Costumes Of Ottoman Women

The Main Lines Of Dress From The Selcuks To The Early Ottoman Period

Through the centuries the most important aspect of Turkish female dress is that they maintained traditional lines, and, apart from the materials used, they did not reflect the financial position of the wearer. Information regarding women’s dress and head wear of the 12th. to 14th centuries are to be found in examples of tiles, stone carvings, and miniatures of the period. (more…)

History

The earliest sources found in the history of Turkish clothing date back to the miniatures and wall pictures uncovered in Central Asia. Sources of 100 B.C. reveal that woolen and cotton fabric was woven on handlooms but silk came from China.

The Turkish way of living at that time brought about functional clothing styles. As the horse was the common and inevitable form of transport in the daily routine, women’s and men’s wear resembled each other (unisex).

Leather and felt materials had priority due to natural and social conditions. In addition to these materials; shipskin, fur and woolen materials were major constituents in clothes of that period. (more…)

Turkey is a peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea in the North, the Mediterranean in the South, the internal Marmara Sea in the Northwest, and the Aegean in the West. Turkey’s marine coasts add up to 8333 kilometers. The seas of Turkey are very different from each other in terms of their physical structure and other characteristics.

The Black Sea has a salinity level of 18 percent, and since it is fed with river waters, its temperatures tend to be low. Due to its latitudinal location, the Mediterranean Sea is warm and condensation is common. Its salinity varies from 36 to 39 percent. In terms of the characteristics of its waters, the Marmara Sea stands between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Upper currents form the Black Sea account for the 23 percent salinity on the surface, while lowers Mediterranean currents account for the 36 percent salinity in the deeper sections. The Aegean Sea has characteristics similar to that of the Mediterranean. The salinity of the Aegean Sea in the North is 33 percent, while it is about 37 percent in the South. (more…)

No less than 148 different orchid species grow in Turkey and 40 of these are endemic, that is found in Turkey alone. Turkey is home to almost as many orchid species as it grows in the entire European continent, and has more endemic species than any other country in the region. In terms of its flora Turkey has been likened to a continent in its own right. Altogether there are 12,000 known species of plants in Europe, while Turkey alone has approximately 9,000, of which 3,000 are endemic, accentuating the importance of the Anatolian biodiversity. (more…)