Hand knotting art in Hereke

Over centuries, fishermen in Hereke used to hand knot carpets for their own requirements as it is common practice in the Turkish nations. Thanks to the Royal Court Manufacture, the fishermen's village on the coastline by the Marmara Sea became famous. Since the middle of the 19^th century the finest silk and woollen carpets were hand-knotted there. To this day, these beautiful and luxurious carpets represent the peak of hand knotting art worldwide.

In 1843, Sultan Abdulmejid I, the Ottoman Emperor, established the Royal Court Manufacture in Hereke and allowed the production of carpets, canvases, cushions and curtains exclusively for the Ottoman Court. At that time, Emperor Abdulmejid ordered the Dolmabahçe Palace to be built on the coast of the Marmara Sea in Istanbul, which became the first European-style Palace. It contains the world's largest Bohemian chrystal chandelier, a gift from Queen Victoria of the British Empire. The palace has the largest collection of Bohemian and Baccarat chrystal chandeliers in the world and even a staircase is made of Baccarat chrystal. 140 carpets and 115 prayer rugs produced in Hereke cover over 4,500 square meters.

To explain the reason why the Royal Court Manufacture was established in Hereke, the citizens of Hereke tell the myth according to which Sultan Abdulmejid found the Hereke Bay so pituresque during a cruise in the Marmara Sea. He was so impressed by the beauty and tranquility of this place that he decided to establish the Royal Court Manufacture there.

Another one myth tells the following:

Sultan Abdulmejid I gave to Armenian Ottoman subjects the instruction to build the Royal Court Manufacture in Izmit. The both Armenian took a part of the money and build a secound manufacture in Hereke, with the intention to use a part of the Sultan's money to make their own business.

When the Sultan went in a boat over the Marmara Sea to Izmit to controll the building process, he saw the new building in Hereke. He asked both of them what building that was. Because they feared the punishment of the Sultan for misusing a part of the money, they lied and said this was the new Royal Court Manufacture, which they built in Hereke instead of Izmit because it was nearer to Istanbul and that they wished to surprise the Sultan.

The best artists and masters of the art of carpet hand knotting of the Ottoman Empire were assembled to produce the carpets in the Royal Court Manufacture in Hereke. The Sultan made it easy for them to settle in Hereke by giving them the full rights of settlement as well as accepting their full civil rights and through wide tax benefits.

During the late 19^th and early 20^th century the knitters in Hereke created their works almost for the aristocracy of the Ottoman Empire, for guests such as dignitaries and heads of states. Hereke Carpets were given to the Royal Families of Japan, Russia, Germany and England as a gift, whereas the Sultan alone decided about the awarding of these artworks.

At the present time, for example, the former President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton, received one of the Hereke Carpets as a present during his state visit in Istanbul, Turkey, in December, 1999.

After the end of the Ottoman Empire the 24^th of March 1924, the production of the Hereke Carpets almost ground to a halt. In the secound half of the 20^th century a few hand knot masters in Hereke once more resumed this tradition. To this day, the genuine Hereke Carpets haven't lost any of their beauty, luxury and elegance.