Winter in Central Anatolia:
February 2008
Snow comes and goes like a song which is reluctant to depart ones memory. Luckily we missed most of it, and only saw remaining patches. The mountain roads were covered and icy, so we pretty much stayed in Konya proper.
The best news is that our family was still honoring our last September's purchasing prices - and that's with a 40% drop in the dollars value against the Turkish Lira. Yes, you read this correctly. So, not only did we find some fabulous artistic village kilims, but we also didn't have to pay more for them. Thanks everyone.
Aside from the amazing pieces we found, the big news in Konya was the re-opening of the Farruhattin Mosque and Tomb as a museum.
It is in the historic area of Konya and has some of the kilim collection "borrowed" from the Alladdin Mosque.
The guards are very sweet, and the kilims are displayed in such a manner so that one can see them very clearly - even touch them? Please be careful.
This beautiful 'museum' is very reminiscent of the architecture we saw in Samarkand and Bokkara - even with a water path through the center of the space. The tombs of the Seljuk Grand Wazirs are also in that simple style used in Sammarkand for Timur';s tomb, as well as those of his family.
Konya was still resting in the after glow of the Rumi festival (December), and after so many visitors, was not overflowing with antique pieces. Although their collection of older village pieces with artistic merit was unsurpassed.
Our shipment is being readied for export as I write this, and should be in house by the beginning of March.
The tea is hot, the stories are colorful and we await the pleasure of your company
all best,
saul, stephanie and the sun bow crew
charlottesville, va. February 2008
