DETERMINED TO BAG THE PERFECT RUG, THE WRITER HEADS TO ISTANBUL, UNRAVELING THE ANCIENT CULTURE OF CARPETS.

By DONOVAN WEBSTER Photographs by PALANI MOHAN

MAGICMAGIC CARPETCARPET RIDERIDE together, and it was time to buy. Mine would be no mere foray to the outlet mall, mind you. No, I would take this opportunity (or rather, THE excuse) to return to one of my favor- ite cities, Istanbul, immersing myself in an ancient cultural tradition. Istanbul has been dubbed "The City CARPET of the World's Desire." More populous and exotic than New York, and far older, this city of ten million, variously known in the past as Byzan- IS IDEAL. tium, Constantinople, and Stamboul, With a tribal pattern from Kurdish puts it--"the carpet will arrive at was the historical meeting point for Iran, measuring roughly 14 feet by your door before you do." But I've dozens of Old World cultures. Split- 10, and about 80 years old, it has a gotten ahead of my story. For years ting it is the Bosporus, a mile-across dozen natural-dye shades of rust, I've yearned for the perfect Oriental strait where, in effect, Europe and pomegranate, lapis, pistachio, and rug for my third-story home office. I Asia meet. As an ancient crossroads, saffron. It sprawls across the floor of imagined a carpet large and thick Istanbul is, above all, a marketplace. one of the oldest carpet stalls in enough to muffle the distracting If you need it, you can find it here-or Istanbul's mostly enclosed Grand sounds emanating from downstairs, it will find you. Vendors try to Bazaar. Outside, the marble hall of children, dogs, and a booming engage you in conversation. If they echoes with the sounds of haggling grand piano. It would be sumptuous succeed, they invite you to their and clinking tea glasses, as it has for and evocative, curing the woeful shop for tea and trade. Don't take more than 550 years. plainness of my work space, which is offense at this forwardness; it's an "Come on," says shopkeeper Hasan all hardwoods, plaster, and drywall. ancient custom. My favorite part of Turkeri. "We've made a good price. Long ago I settled on the carpet's the city--where I always base myself Let's finish this." All I need do is dimensions and even had an idea of during a visit--is Istanbul's oldest shake his hand, write down my what the motif would look like. quarter, Sultanahmet, dating to address back in Virginia, and--as he Finally, last spring, I had my rug fund about 660 B.C. It is part of Old Town

BETWEEN STOPS, I savor a lamb kebab and get a Turkish bath and the world's best shave at a 265-year-old steam room.

Istanbul, with its encircling wall from the Roman era, it's time to go to the Grand Bazaar and get down to small yet comfy hotels, and seven hills, each topped business. by an enormous mosque with pointed minarets. This Approach it from any street or alley and the Grand district is pleasingly stately and redolent of the past. Bazaar looks wholly unassuming: an arched To explore this UNESCO World Heritage site, I always marble doorway in the side of a tall, stone wall. Step start at the magnificently domed sanctuary inside, though, and the bazaar--with its 3,300 of Hagia Sophia, a massive cathedral completed by the shops lining a miles-long grid of stone and marble Roman Emperor Justinian in the year 537. hallways--assaults your senses. Here, crowds of Until 1453, it was the world's most impressive church, locals and tourists alike mill about in a world of bright and then Mehmed the Conqueror turned it lights, gold jewelry, bronze antiques, hookah pipes, into Islam's greatest mosque. Matching its scale--and exceeding its elegance--is the Blue Mosque, which I reach by crossing a park filled with fountains. I end up at another nearby jewel, Topkapi Palace, historic home to the Ottoman sultans, most of whom added to its spectacle. Topkapi has courts, trea- suries, a harem, eunuchs' quarters, a library, terrace gardens, and kitchens. Without a guided tour, you could easily get lost here for days. Between stops, I savor a lamb kebab and get a Turkish bath (and the world's best barber-chair shave) at the Cagaloglu Hamami, a 265-year-old steam room built with white marble. Then I sip a beer and read the International Herald Tribune at an outdoor cafe just across the street from the Hagia Sophia. By mid-afternoon, I'm readjusted to Istanbul's mercantile-mad atmosphere. That means

A couple lingers over breakfast (left) in the private garden of the Hotel Empress Zoe in the his toric Sultanah- met neighborhood. fisherman (top) casts his line near the Galata Bridge over The Golden Horn, a storied estu- ary that divides the city and empties into the Bosporus Strait. skullcaps, loose diamonds, soccer Soon enough, however, I come upon the Bosporus on Istanbul's jerseys, ATMs, money changers, a knot of guys hanging out in front of Asian side. "My parents are Kurds, mosques, Kemal Erol, rumored from the Gilkon clan," he says. "We antique maps, restaurants, to be the oldest carpet shop in the were apricot growers in sapphires, rubies, jackets of Turkish bazaar. Eastern Anatolia and came to Istan- leather, old lamps, and souvenir "Come in and look around" says a bul when I was five." scimitars. young, black-haired man. Carpets have been good to Turkeri. Everyone in the Grand Bazaar is "Nah, it's too late in the day," another He began working in the shops as a actively selling, buying, or bargain- says. "We will all be crying soon." teenager, fetching tea for ing. The constant babble of Okay, I'll bite. customers, pulling down carpets to commerce--the essence of Istanbul- "Why will you be crying?" I ask. display. At night, he attended -rises toward the tall, arched "Because either we haven't sold language school and now speaks ceilings, captured beneath one enough carpets," he says, "or we've English, Italian, and Spanish, as well massive roof. sold them so cheaply we won't as Turkish and Kurdish. "But mostly I The secret to enjoying your shopping make any money." kept working," he experience here is to find vendors Next thing I know, I'm sitting on a says. "I sold a lot of carpets and was whose personalities you leather couch, drinking apple- eventually asked to become a part- like. Haggling is always involved, flavored tea with a 30-something ner at Kemal Erol, which is but, believe it or not, haggling can guy named Hasan Turkeri, one of said to be a prestigious thing." create friendships. Kemal Erol's partners. Across the Now Turkeri drives a Range Rover, I dive into several carpet shops room, two men begin pulling has business interests in the States, where, over the customary cups of down stacks of folded carpets to and has helped build his tea, I'm given 15- or 30-minute show me. I tell Turkeri the dimen- parents a retirement house. showings. Some stalls offer pricey sions, colors, and design I have "It's taken a lot of work," he says. carpets of pure silk, handwoven and in mind. "But really, it's something like a suitable for hanging, but "Just look for awhile," he says. "Good dream." those are too fine for my office floor. carpets surprise you. A rug that's just Over some dessert, Turkeri fleshes Other shops display affordable for you will almost out my knowledge of the carpet carpets made of cotton or call out your name." trade. wool with floral patterns or medal- Before leaving home, I had checked "Originally, carpets were simply lions or forking geometrics copied out carpet prices at shops near my made as insulation against the cold, from ancient carpets. These home and perused a copy since most herdsmen lived in are unquestionably nice looking but of the book, Oriental Carpets: From tents. The tribes developed their not unique enough for my purposes. the Tents, Cottages and Workshops of own designs, and, over centuries, carpet-making became first an art and then a business." Carpets began finding their way to the West in the 16th and 17th centu- ries, Turkeri continues, with Turkey being the main conduit. England's Henry VIII was an ardent fan of "Turkey carpets." Several portraits depict him standing amid his collection. By the Victorian era, the rugs of Central Asia--now being called Oriental or Persian carpets--became wildly popular among the middle class. By the 20th century, old carpets became even more valued, and unscrupulous businessmen began traveling the outlands of Asia, trading new, manufactured carpets to herdsmen in return for their cultural artifacts. A salesman at the Kemal Erol shop in Istanbul's Grand Bazaar presents a carpet. the Bosporus on Istanbul's "They'd say to the herdsmen: 'Your Probably not Islamic in origin, it Asian side. "My parents are Kurds, carpets look so old. I'll trade you my depicts a primitive village, complete from the Gilkon clan," he says. "We new carpets for your old with people, were apricot growers in ones,'" Turkeri tells me. "Those houses, cattle, sheep, birds, camels, Eastern Anatolia and came to Istan- merchants walked away with ponds, and farming tools woven into bul when I was five." fortunes. That's how carpets created its vegetable-dyed pile. Carpets have been good to Turkeri. a global industry now worth billions. Eroglu says he loves dowry carpets He began working in the shops as a All because poor shepherds in central above all others. "The young woman teenager, fetching tea for Asia were cold." who makes it puts her customers, pulling down carpets to After eating, I say goodbye to Turkeri heart and soul and dreams into her display. At night, he attended and take my thoughts for a walk, carpet," he says. "'Will I live on a language school and now speaks strolling from the Grand farm?' she wonders. 'In the English, Italian, and Spanish, as well Bazaar to the shore of the Golden city? Will I have children?' Then, as Turkish and Kurdish. "But mostly I Horn. I catch a 15-minute ferry when she is of an age to marry, the kept working," he across the strait to Harem, a family hangs the carpet in says. "I sold a lot of carpets and was bustling seaport on the Asian side, front of the house like an advertise- eventually asked to become a part- and then return. Traffic on the ment. The village boys look at it to ner at Kemal Erol, which is Bosporus amazes with its see if their dreams match said to be a prestigious thing." variety, from oil tankers to one-man up. They can tell if she's lively or Now Turkeri drives a Range Rover, dories. dull. It's all right there in the has business interests in the States, Back in Sultanahmet, I climb a hill carpet." and has helped build his along the western wall of the He pauses, sips tea, and pulls deeply parents a retirement house. Topkapi Palace and, happily on a cigarette before continuing his "It's taken a lot of work," he says. exhausted, make for my hotel. As the tale. "But really, it's something like a sun sets, a muezzin begins his adhan, "If, after seeing the carpet, a boy dream." or call to prayer. From wants to marry," Eroglu goes on, "he Over some dessert, Turkeri fleshes speakers positioned high in the mina- and his parents go to the out my knowledge of the carpet rets of the Blue Mosque, the Arabic girl's house to talk to her parents, trade. phrase for "God is Great" while the girl stays in the kitchen "Originally, carpets were simply rings out: "Allllaaaahhhh hu making coffee and listening at the made as insulation against the cold, Akkbarrrr ... Alllaaaahhh hu door. If the parents get along, the since most herdsmen lived in Akkbarrrr." father shouts: 'Bring in the coffee!' tents. The tribes developed their Beautiful as that sounds, I barely The girl comes out but own designs, and, over centuries, notice. I have a carpet on my mind, cannot speak. If she likes the boy, carpet-making became first an that 80-year-old Heriz I liked she will have put sugar in his coffee. art and then a business." so much. As we ate, Turkeri regularly If not, his coffee will be Carpets began finding their way to came back to price, with me chang- heavily salted. the West in the 16th and 17th centu- ing the subject each time "Everyone watches the boy's face as ries, Turkeri continues, to avoid the haggle. His price is now he takes the first sip. He is nervous. with Turkey being the main conduit. down to $11,000. The cup is shaking in his England's Henry VIII was an ardent Next afternoon, I visit Capadocias, a hands against the saucer. If he wants fan of "Turkey carpets." carpet store in Sultanahmet. The to marry her badly enough, even if Several portraits depict him standing store is run by Ali Eroglu, he gets the salt, he smiles amid his collection. By the Victorian whose family is from Cappadocia, a like he's gotten the sugar." era, the rugs of Central Asia--now gorgeously eroded district in central Eroglu picks up my notebook. being called Oriental or Persian Turkey where they own a "I can tell you like this carpet," he carpets--became wildly popular carpet factory. Some of Eroglu's rugs says. "So I'm writing my best price in among the middle are new, factory-made imitations of your book." class. By the 20th century, old traditional rugs. He's He's right. I like the carpet, but not carpets became even more valued, proud of his inventory, and, as it as much as I like Turkeri's. and unscrupulous businessmen happens, one of his rugs soon begins Two days later, after a pair of stops began traveling the outlands of Asia, calling my name. It's the at Kemal Erol to reconsider my trading new, manufactured carpets most unique rug I've seen yet, a new purchase (Turkeri's price is now to herdsmen in return for version of an antique dowry carpet, $9,000), I find myself in his Range their cultural artifacts. from Ushak in eastern Turkey. Rover, hurtling out of Europe over The Bosporus Bridge. room of the house with a potbellied contains 20 small, tight knots, which "Welcome to Asia," a billboard reads. stove in one corner and a TV in the makes for some of the "We're going to Hereke, where the other. In world's most durable carpets. She finest silk carpets are made," Turkeri between, a loom four feet wide and finishes an entire warp line in says. "Until democracy six feet tall leans against the wall, minutes. Had I been able to do it was instituted in 1923, the women of holding a half-made carpet, at all, I would've needed better than Hereke made carpets only for royalty its surface luminous in blue, white, a day. and foreign dignitaries. red, and yellow. For her work, Sudamin earns $800 a But now, money is all that matters. If "Here you are" she says. "This is my month--good money around here. you have enough money, you can buy work. I watch TV as I do it. The work She's been at it for 20 one." is too focused to years, since age 15. "My carpets are An hour later, we roll up a narrow, endure long times at a sitting. So I my babies" she says. "Each time I cobbled side street, where houses take breaks to cook and clean the finish one, I take a photo of damaged in a 1999 house, then I go back to the it to remember it. Then I send my earthquake have been patched with carpet. It is part of my day." baby out to be adopted by the boulders and cinder blocks. Turkeri Sudamin, who says it takes five world". stops the car. "We're months to finish a carpet, turns to As we drive back to Istanbul, Turkeri here". the loom to demonstrate, deftly and I talk more about carpets and As if on cue, a squat 65-year-old man lifting a piece of pile, double- history and the wanders toward the car, then knotting it, and cutting the pile to intersection of the two. Finally, he gestures for us to join him. We the proper height. Each square says: "So, about the carpet back in walk over and shake hands. He is centimeter on this carpet, she says, the showroom. Hasan Ibis, production manager for Are you ready to make a deal?" Sirinoglu, a local silk carpet There's a long silence. company. We follow him inside a "You're making me crazy!" Turkeri building and up a narrow flight of says, his words clipped. "Okay, then! stairs. Eight thousand dollars. In his office, where patterns for rugs That's my best price!" adorn the walls, Ibis pulls out three No, as it turns out, that isn't his best hairy, grape-shaped white price. But in the end, Turkeri is right. balls and hands them to me. "These By the time I get back are silkworm cocoons" he says. "From home to Virginia, the carpet has each cocoon, you can already arrived. It now almost covers get about a mile of silk fiber. Each the floor of my far quieter-- cocoon is a single strand of silk. We and better appointed--office. Oh, wind 40 of these strands and my new friend, Hasan Turkeri, together to make silk thread, then rug merchant, is coming to dye it in natural dyes. We have more the States for a visit sometime later than 150 looms working in this year. Hereke, producing about 30 carpets a month." "What does a really good Hereke silk Writer Donovan Webster traced the carpet cost?" I ask. migratory route of his own DNA in "Well, it depends on the size, the "Footsteps of My number of knots per centimeter, the In a home in the town of Hereke, Ancestors" in our October 2005 issue. quality of the silk". about 40 miles (64 kilometers) Palani Mohan's pictures of Sri Lanka "But where do prices start?" southeast of Istanbul, Havva appeared in "Deep "In U.S. money? About $5,000. But Gumustas labors over a silk carpet Beauty" last October. that is for a small one". as her mother looks on. The two of Ibis leads us up the street to a half- them have been working on the repaired residence with cracked same carpet for over two years. walls. We remove our shoes "They still have six months to go," and go inside, where we're met by a Mohan says, but when woman named Sudamin. We follow completed, the fine carpet may her through the kitchen to the main fetch a price of $40,000 (U.S.).