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Carpets

One of my favorite places to visit in Samarkand is a silk carpet weaving factory called “Samarkand and Bukhara Silk Carpets”. Locals call it simply “Khujum” as the name of the street where this factory is located. At this place they show how silk carpets are weaved as many centuries ago. There is an exhibition of silk carpets from different parts of Uzbekistan. You can order one with your own patterns or buy the ready ones.

When entering the factory a local guide tells you the general history of carpets and does an interesting excursion in small exhibit rooms. Further, he lets us go the factory itself, where young craftswomen sit in front of big board’s woven with threads and create patterns of extraordinary beauty and colors. You can tell that this work requires lots of time and patience. We were told that making one carpet may take from one to six months, considering the size and difficulty of patterns. Some may take even one year! All coloring materials are of natural origion: walnut, pomegranate, madder and indigo. This is one of the things that make these carpets unique and famous all over the country and far beyond. When I entered to the room full of carpets for sales my eyes just ran wide seeing the beauty and motley colors of countless number of carpets hanging on the wall, lying on the floor, wrapped up in the corner…The guide picked up the most special ones with some historical background and told us interesting facts.

This carefully kept from generation to generation tradition of weaving silk carpets is one of the brightest crafts in Uzbekistan. If you have some spare time from visiting the main highlights during your tour in Samarkand, make a visit to this place and you won’t regret it.