This album contains all our galleries which are not for our talks
Hidden Gorge and Carpet skills
This apparent break in the rocks hides the Saklıkent Gorge on the east side of the Xanthos valley.
The only way in is to enter the gorge on this walkway over the water
Looking back to the entrance
A huge amount of water pours in from the side walls near the entrance
To go up the gorge at all means fording the freezing cold water
While trying not to fall over in the water, you will have your picture taken
In summer, and above the ford crossing, the valley is reasonably dry. In winter and spring that will be very different
Some fallen rocks in the gorge are big, and also smooth from water erosion
The gorge can get quite narrow. It is several kilometres long but only passable for a few hundred metres
When you get back, your picture will be ready for collection - for a fee
And you still have to cross the water again
You can hire plastic shoes for the journey. The staff take a relaxed view of proceedings
Outside the gorge, the river outflow provides space for restaurants by the water
The Saklıkent Carpet School provides demonstrations for visitors and also local employment. This demonstration is of silk reeling from cocoons
Hanks of dyed silk hung on a demonstration silk carpet loom. Silk carpets are generally woven on smaller looms than for wool carpets. Silk threads are much finer than wool. The part-carpet design appears to be from Kayseri.
For wool, the first step is carding to align the fibres
The wool is then spun by a traditional hand method
Carpets are woven on vertical looms
The designs may be printed on a cartoon for the weaver to follow
Or the weaver may copy the design from a previous carpet (shown at the top of the loom). The colour palette can be different.
Turkish carpets are woven with double knots
After each row, the knots are battered down with the comb and the pile trimmed off with the depth-calibrated scissors
Partly woven design
A completed section showing the 'Armenian Cross' motif, which is one of the variations found on Doşmealtı carpets.
Finished carpets are available to buy. Designs may be associated with particular regions, but the schools across Turkey do not need to stick to their own local designs