Nallıhan silk needlelace () is a

needle lace Needle lace is a type of lace created using a needle and thread to create hundreds of small stitches to form the lace itself. Origins The origins of needle lace date back to the 15th century and embroidery. Cutwork and drawn work were de ...

() from

Nallıhan Nallıhan is a municipality and district of Ankara Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,079 km2, and its population 26,553 (2022). It is 157 km from the city of Ankara. Its elevation is 625 m. Nallıhan is one of many towns that claim to ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, Turkey handcrafted using a needle and silk thread. Silk farming has been done traditionally for centuries in Nallıhan. One room of almost every house in town is reserved for silkworm cocoons. Today, local women produce silk needle lace at home, and sale and export them through a cooperative they founded. A needle lace course is held for younger women of the region in order to include them in the traditional art. Nallıhan was located northwestern of

in Central Anatolia on the historical trade route

Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

. For a long time, silkworms as well as rice and

Angora goat The Angora or Ankara is a Turkish breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the sa ...

s were raised in the town. By silk farming and operating yarn processing facilities, Nallıhan maintained its importance from the beginning until the middle of the 19th century. In the early 1900s, about 100-150 women were working in the silk yarn plant owned by an Armenian. The silk needle lace, a folk art based on embrodery, was developed with techniques specific to the town in this period. In Turkey, knitting made using tools such as needles,

crochet hook A crochet hook (or crochet needle) is an implement used to make loops in thread or yarn and to interlock them into crochet stitches. It is a round shaft pointed on one end, with a lateral groove behind it. The point eases the insertion of the hoo ...

s and hairpins is collected under the name of oya. Among these, needle lace is usually made by knotting silk thread into a loop with a needle. Traditional needle lace is produced in many other places of Turkey despite the differences in style, color, construction technique and tools used. Changes in commercial value and cutting down of mulberry trees led to the gradual abandonment of silk farming in Nallıhan. Today, raw material for silk needlelace is rarely supplied locally or in households. Despite this, needle lace is part of the culture and economy of the town as a cultural heritage. Some of the needle laces are named in accordance with their motifs such as "Çapkın Bıyığı" ("Flirtatious Mustache"), "Gönül Kurdu" ("Heartworm"), "Çalı Bakıldağı" ("Bushy Look"), "Elma Çiçeği" ("Apple Blossom"), "Hanım Penceresi" ("Lady's Window"), "Balık Kılçığı" ("Fishbone"), "Küpe Oya" "(Earring Lace"), "Garga Ağzı" ("Crow Beak") etc. The Nallıhan silk needlelace was registered as a

Geographical indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town or region). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, is inten ...

of origin on 15 February 2018.

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nallihan silk needlelace Needle lace Turkish art Culture of Turkey Nallıhan