Comlekci, [chom-lek-chee], is a very rural
mountainside village with a population of around 900. Despite
being just 12Kms from Bodrum International Airport and 35Kms
from the famous holiday resort of Bodrum, the village is still
untouched by tourism.
Most of the villagers work the surrounding fields from their
simple dwelling houses that are also home to free roaming
chickens, goats, sheep and cows. The name Comlekci actually
derives from the days when it was famous for making pottery,
however this has now completely died out leaving carpet making
as the main village craft.
The daily routine of most villagers from sun-up to sun-down
is to tend their livestock, their fields and olive trees, make
yogurt, pasteurize their milk (usually on an open wood fire),
walk the livestock to the fields, prepare meals and visit each
other for the latest gossip.
In between all this, those homes that have a loom will spend
a little time each day making a carpet. Although it is possible
to buy the wool ready spun and dyed, most villagers prefer to
use the wool from their own sheep and produce their own dyes
from local natural materials.
Carpet making in Turkish villages is a sideline rather that
the main business, often supplementing an otherwise basic
income. The designs and colors are unique to each village and
sometimes to a particular family. Even the way a carpets fringe
is finished can denote if the maker was married, single or
engaged.
Visitors to our shop in Bodrum have the opportunity to visit
our village and to see not only where the carpets are made but
to see a side of Turkey normally missed by most tourists.
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