Thursday, September 1, 2011

World Beaders: Turkey

I was very excited when I noticed that Turkey was one of the top visitors to Inspirational Beading in August, and I couldn’t wait to start searching for some gorgeous bead and jewelry inspirations from this wonderfully exotic part of the world.

istanbul_beads

Bead-heaven


Turkey is one of the world’s oldest inhabited areas, and has been home to many cultures, including the Hittites, Hattians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and the Ancient Greeks. It is also the home of Ancient Troy, a city that has been considered real, legendary, and back again throughout history. Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, was once the capital of the Roman Empire, under the name Constantinople, previously called Byzantium.

Beads and lamps of Turkey in Cappadocia

beads


Source: flickr.com via Iain on Pinterest


Due to it’s geographical location, Turkey features a variety of climates and ecosystems that make it the country with the highest variety of plant species in Europe. According to The Garden Lady, “Turkey has an extraordinary degree of biodiversity with almost as many species of wild flowers as the rest of Europe combined; of the over 9000 species so far identified more than 3000 are native to the country, many found nowhere else on earth…”.

Turkish Beads, Jewelry and Culture

1. Turkish beads,
2. Tumulus (Nemrut Dağı, Turkey), 3. istanbul, 4. Beads, 5. istanbul,
6. Turkish Jewels, 7. Jewelry,
8. Grand Bazaar- Istanbul, Turkey, 9. Beads, Yoruk Koyu,
10. Seeing Eye Beads of Istanbul, Turkey, 11. evil eye beads, 12. Woman selling beads in Turkey, 13. Beads


Like neighboring Greece, evil eye beads or nazar Boncugu are a common sight in Turkey. These beads are used to ward of the effects of envy and ill wishes, and feature a gorgeous eye design, usually in blue glass.

Happy beading, Turkey!

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5 comments:

  1. I love evil eye beads! Thanks for all of the history. It's fascinating learning about the origins of different types of beads and jewelry techniques.

    ReplyDelete
  2. There are lots of gorgeous beaded pieces on Hungarian blogs. Sadly, Google translate doesn't do a very good job translating Hungarian to English, so I don't reap the benefits they offer. Mandy's done very well with some of them, though (more power to her!!).

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dearest inspiratonalbeading.

    First of all, thank you so much for your lovely post about Turkey. Yes,we as a nation love beads.Paradoxically a lot of glass furnace were closed,how sadly.

    Everytime i admire your works and tutorials. Best wishes,good luck and lovely greets from Turkey.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wonderful. I am crushing on those Latern necklaces

    ReplyDelete

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