“Unfold your carpet and I will read your soul”, says an old Turkmen proverb, which emphasizes the importance of carpet weaving for the culture of a people.
The carpets have a special place in Gagauz culture, helping us better know the traditions and customs of this people. Historians agree that it was mainly in the 18th century when the Gagauz carpets appeared, when a massive migration of Gagauz towards the Bugeac steppes took place. The people decorated their homes according to the traditions inherited from their ancestors.
Every Gagauz family had a space in their homes where the dowry and the precious items were kept. It was also there, on the biggest wall in the house, that a carpet decorated with a family tree would be displayed. A carpet was an important item for the girls’ dowry. The process of carpet manufacturing would start with sheep shearing. Then the wool was prepared, washed and spun. The threads to be used for carpet weaving should first be dyed. For example, the sugar beet was used for obtaining the red pigment, walnut leaves would be used for the green pigment.
The background of a carpet would most frequently be woven of brown or black threads. Every element woven on the carpet symbolized the occupation of the family members: the livestock growers decorated their carpets with birds and cattle, the farmers wove grapes.
Some weavers would even weave letters from their names into the carpet. However, one of the main symbols of the Gagauz carpet is the rose.
In 2013, in the village Gaidar the first Gagauz carpet festival of the was organized, gathering artisans from different localities. This event is held annually in August.
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It is hard to estimate when the first Gagauz carpets appeared, presumably it happened when the first houses were erected and the need to cover the empty walls appeared. Provided their history as a nomad people, most probably the Gagauz borrowed certain elements from other ethnicities, having contacts with other cultures.
The family tree divided the carpet in two parts the number of branches on that tree represented the number of children in the family and each of the branches would be decorated with a rosebud as a symbol of a happy and healthy life continuation.
Ludmila Caracioban, Director of the historical museum, Besalma village
This material was developed in the framework of the project “Supporting institutionalized and sustainable dialogue on Gagauzia Autonomy”, implemented by CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation and financed by Sweden. The opinions expressed in this material pertain to the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of CMI or of Sweden.