Kastamonu

LOCAL HANDICRAFTS OF KASTAMONU

Weaving, needle lace and sheet-edge knotting

In Kastamonu, people usually wove, dyed and made ready for use most of what they needed every day: clothes, mattress, bed and quilt covers, sheets, carpets, kilims and so on. The rest of their needs they bought from the tradespeople of the bazaar.

Besides these, the bazaars sold cotton and silk cloth from places advanced in weaving, such as Damascus, Aleppo, Bursa, Tosya, Tokat and India. Goods from outside were more expensive than local weaves, and the city’s notables and senior officials preferred imported cloth.

According to the historian Halil İnalcık, Kastamonu was among the important weaving centres of Anatolia between the 15th and 18th centuries. Local needs were largely met, and the rest of the cloth produced was exported from the ports of İnebolu, Sinop and Samsun. The Balkapanı Han (Pembe Han), built in the reign of Sultan Bayezid II, is thought to have been a place where mainly cotton was bought and sold. Along with cotton cloth, silk fabrics from Tabriz and Aleppo reached Crimea by way of Kastamonu.

Woollen goods such as felt, broadcloth (çuha), mohair cloth (sof), wool carpets, kilims and clothing were mostly made for local needs and not exported. Raw materials came from the mohair market set up in Kastamonu. From the time of the Candaroğulları, mohair-cloth weaving (sofçuluk) was one of Kastamonu’s most important livelihoods, and the sof weavers are known to have lived mostly just below the castle. Even so, Kastamonu was never as well known for it as Ankara.

The Kurşunlu Han built by İsmail Bey was used in places by cotton merchants as a warehouse. Cotton usually came to Kastamonu from Adana and Aydın.

During the War of Independence, the women of Kastamonu gathered together to knit the undershirts, socks and sweaters our soldiers needed and sent them to the front.

Weaving has been one of Kastamonu’s largest sources of income throughout history. In the early years of the Republic, in the 1930s, almost every house had a loom, and the women of the family, bride and mother-in-law alike, always did weaving at home, adding a good income to the family budget. There are said to have been 35,000 looms.

Today looms have been set up again by various associations and individuals, and various weaves are also made at the Handicrafts Centre attached to the Governorship of Kastamonu.

Hand-loom weaving, plain and coloured, of bed sheets, aprons, women’s work aprons, headscarves, towels and undershirts can still be found in the central district and in Cide, Doğanyurt, Tosya, Azdavay, Seydiler, Araç, Pınarbaşı and Devrekani. In Tosya, along with interlining cloth (tela), inner sashes, bath mitts and three-strip sashes are made from mohair.

Kastamonu and its surroundings show variety and richness in traditional crafts. Although constant migration to the cities, technological change and fast, cheap production have steadily reduced handicrafts in recent years, traditional crafts are still alive in and around Kastamonu. Here are a few of them:

The most widespread income-earning craft of Kastamonu and its districts is çarşaf bağı (sheet-edge knotting): decorative knots tied in cotton thread, without tools, using only the women’s fingertips and nails, along the two long edges or all four edges of locally woven “sarı kıvrak” bed sheets.

Linen weaving is found in the Cide, Şenpazar, Küre, Azdavay and Pınarbaşı districts. Plain and coloured weaves of bed sheets and böze cloth (for women’s work aprons, headscarves, towels and shifts) are found, though not often. Tela (interlining) made in our Tosya district survives to meet the needs of the clothing sector. Plain white mohair inner sashes, coloured three-strip sashes and bath mitts from Tosya are sought after throughout Türkiye.

In the central district and in Daday and Devrekani, tablecloths called “sini bezi” are made by dipping wooden blocks of various sizes, carved or raised by hand in linden wood with plant and geometric motifs, into a specially prepared single-colour dye and printing them on plain white calico.

Many crafts are disappearing because of modern developments, and oya lace is one of them. This research was begun to record the knowledge and experience of the craftswomen who made needle oya for a living in Kastamonu while they are still alive. Forty-two oya makers aged 45 to 80, living in the Topçuoğlu, İsfendiyarbey, Aşağıimaret, Kırkçeşme, Hisarardı, Beyçelebi and Aycılar neighbourhoods of central Kastamonu, were reached. After the interviews, their work was examined and samples were taken.

Needle oya is a knotted lace made with silk thread and a needle on handkerchiefs, printed scarves and shift collars, or made first and then sewn on.

In Kastamonu, keepsake needle oya is traditionally kept in boxes and chests and handed down from generation to generation. A piece of oya that an 80-year-old lacemaker inherited from her grandmother’s mother is at least 150–200 years old. Oya making is thought to have existed in Kastamonu since even earlier, and needlework lace is said to have passed from Anatolia to Greece in the 12th century and from there to Europe (Özben, 1948:4). According to living sources, in the late Ottoman period women whose men had gone to war made a living by selling oya to Europe through merchants. Today a few people still keep this craft alive.

Adornment is something women care about. Because producing the silk and making the oya were entirely their own work, oya let them adorn themselves more cheaply; at the same time, by bringing out their artistry, it gave them status in society. It also gave women economic independence.

Coppersmithing

Kastamonu, 68 km south of Küre, which has the richest copper deposits in the central Black Sea Region, was another of the most important cultural and trading cities where copper mined at Küre was worked. For lack of written records, we cannot yet say for certain whether the coppersmiths and cauldron makers produced goods from the Middle Ages onwards. But in all likelihood some of the copper from the Küre deposits, known to have been worked since the beylik period, must have been processed in Kastamonu’s workshops.

In the second half of the 16th century, copper from the Küre mines met the needs of cauldron makers in the cities of the central Black Sea and Central Anatolia, as well as the copper needs of cities in north-western Iran and Mesopotamia. A decree sent to the kadıs (judges) of Kastamonu and Küre in 1568 says, in summary:

“… It is reported that 400–500 merchants have come from the direction of Iran and bought large quantities of copper; not a single dirham of copper is to be given to anyone…” It is clear that the coppersmiths and cauldron makers of Kastamonu were producing very actively and even met the needs of tradesmen in neighbouring provinces. A decree written to the kadı of Kastamonu in 1568 says, in summary:

“… The coppersmiths of Sivas, Tokat and Amasya are not to be prevented when they wish to buy copperware in Kastamonu, but care is to be taken that no copperware is taken out of the country…”

An order sent to the bey of Kastamonu in 1573 says, in summary:

“… The cauldrons and other equipment needed for the gunpowder works built in Erzurum are to be prepared and sent at once…”

Another decree sent to the kadı of Kastamonu in 1578 says, in summary:

“… 1,000 kantars (56,408 tonnes) of copper are to be sent from the Küre mine for use with the cauldrons to be made for the gunpowder to be processed in Baghdad…”

The trade of the coppersmiths and cauldron makers was Kastamonu’s largest industry. Most of the copper ore from Küre was smelted in Kastamonu’s smelting houses (kalhane). The cheap, plentiful, high-quality raw material the city’s smelting houses supplied played a large part in making coppersmithing and cauldron making such a lively and profitable trade in Kastamonu.

A document from 1783 tells us that Kastamonu’s cauldron makers used copper from the Küre mines:

“… Copper from the Küre copper mines has long been sold to the cauldron makers and merchants of Kastamonu at nine kuruş a batman, but disputes arose when copper from Tokat and elsewhere began to be sold. Therefore copper from elsewhere is not to be allowed to be sold…”

The most important feature that set Kastamonu’s smelting houses apart from those in other cities is that they were still working actively until about 40 years ago. One of them stood below the Yakup Ağa Mosque, built on one of the highest hills in the city. For hundreds of years the copper ore has been smelted in the smelting houses by the same technique, melted with charcoal in a furnace with the help of bellows and then poured into moulds.

The moulds come in very different shapes and sizes. The two-part moulds are made of brick. Some of the one-piece iron moulds are 10 cm in diameter, and the open moulds produce 2.5-kilo ingots. Another iron mould, 45×30 cm and 5 cm deep, produces copper ingots of between 35 and 45 kilos. The ingots taken from the moulds are heated in the furnace and then beaten by a team of seven into sheets of different weights. Hammering the ingots into sheets is done just as craftsmen are shown hammering copper ingots into sheets in the miniatures of the Surname-i Hümayun and the Surname-i Vehbi. Although this process has now died out in Kastamonu, in Anatolia copper ingots are still hammered into sheets only at Kavaklıdere in Muğla. Many of Kastamonu’s coppersmiths and cauldron makers also worked in workshops in Istanbul, and written sources give quite detailed information about this. Various objects and kitchen vessels made by Kastamonu craftsmen in workshops in Anatolia and Istanbul clearly show the Kastamonu style. Between 1934 and 1936, 50 masters, 35 journeymen and 48 apprentices worked in coppersmiths’ shops in Kastamonu. In 1942 there were 22 workshops in the Coppersmiths’ Bazaar, but today only 3 are still producing. For hundreds of years, lidded dishes, bath bowls, güğüm jugs and ewers have been the characteristic vessels of Kastamonu’s workshops.

Ahmet Ortaakarsu, the living master of Kastamonu coppersmithing, takes part in festivals organised by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and regularly wins prizes.

Woodcarving

Since ancient times, the first handicrafts appeared above all for covering and protection. Because handicrafts reflect the feelings, artistic tastes and cultural features of the society that creates them, they spread over time and became traditional.

Today great masters of woodcarving are still at work in Kastamonu.

Tablecloth printing

This is one of the important products particular to the area, made in central Kastamonu and in the Daday and Devrekani districts.

It is made by dipping wooden blocks of various sizes, carved or raised by hand in linden wood with plant and geometric motifs, into a specially prepared single-colour dye and printing them on plain white calico.

The black-on-white “sini bezi” has been used as a tray cloth, tablecloth, table cover and women’s headscarf. In recent years sini bezi, Kastamonu’s most popular souvenir, has been adapted in various ways and is seen used as skirts, curtains and covers.

Pocket knives and knife making

The hand-made pocket knives of various sizes made in the centre of our Tosya district, with one plain edge and one saw-toothed edge, are known locally as the “Tosya çakısı” (Tosya knife). Because one edge is saw-toothed, the Tosya knife is very useful to farmers for small jobs in the vineyard and in farming.
The old knife makers of Tosya, pictures and names…

ALİ BAYRAK HACI HAFIZ HASAN ÇELİK İSMAİL YANIK ŞERİF ORUÇ

The handle of the knife is first cut from water-buffalo horn and then shaped with an iron rasp. The blades are made specially of chrome steel, so they do not rust and are very sharp. Kitchen knives of various sizes with chrome-steel blades and bone or hardwood handles are also sought after.

Basket making

Baskets made in Kastamonu are woven from willow or hazel branches; those made in the Daday and Araç districts are woven from hazel branches.

Known as Kastamonu baskets, these are made by weaving fine willow branches by hand into various shapes after preparing them with special treatments.

There is another kind, made by cutting fresh hazel branches into thin, narrow strips with special tools and weaving them by hand into various shapes according to their use; depending on their use, they are known locally as the lidded market basket, the egg basket and the straw fence basket.

Undershirt weaving (fanila)

What is a fanila?

The fanila is one of Kastamonu’s local hand-woven crafts. The most important thing known about its past is that during the War of Independence the army’s underwear was supplied by Kastamonu fanilas. Once worn only as underwear, fanilas are now worn as both underwear and outerwear.

The most important feature of the Kastamonu fanila is that it is made only from 100% cotton yarn, so it can be worn in all four seasons: it is preferred for keeping the body warm in winter and for absorbing sweat in summer. Its stitching and lace are done by housewives.

Rope making

Throughout history, making rope from hemp has been one of the most important livelihoods in Kastamonu, and a large share of the people and tradesmen made their living from it. The han known today as the Urgan Hanı (Rope Han) in Kastamonu was begun by Reis-ül Küttap Hacı Mustafa Efendi and completed in the mid-18th century (1748) by his son Aşir Efendi. The hemp hans and shops are said to have opened early every morning with prayers. The Yanık Han was used mostly as a hemp han.

Hemp was grown widely, especially on the Taşköprü plain, so in the Seljuk, Candaroğulları and Ottoman periods the need for hawsers and rope was met from the region. Istanbul’s need for hemp, rope and hawsers, above all for the navy, shows how widespread rope making was. Rope was among the products most exported from the ports of Sinop and İnebolu.

Today, with the decline in hemp production and the spread of ready-made nylon cord and rope on the market, rope making has lost its former importance in and around Kastamonu.

Source: http://www.kastamonur.com/kastamonu-el-sanatlar/

Kastamonu is considered one of the oldest settlements in Anatolia. The Kaskians are named among its first inhabitants. The region was ruled in turn by the Hittites, Phrygia and Lydia, the Persians and the Kingdom of Macedonia.

The Romans did away with the Kingdom of Pontus in the 1st century BC, and the region was attached to Byzantium in 395. Then came the period of the Çobanoğulları (1227–1309) and Candaroğulları (1309–1461) beyliks.

Kastamonu joined the Ottoman State in 1461, when Mehmed the Conqueror was returning from his Trabzon campaign. During the National Struggle it played an important role on the İstiklal Yolu (Independence Road), along which food, ammunition and weapons were carried from İnebolu to Ankara.

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Forestry dominates Kastamonu’s economy. Sixty-seven per cent of the province is covered by forest and scrub, where trees such as beech, fir, pine, hornbeam, chestnut and linden grow.

Twenty-nine per cent of its land is cultivated. Taşköprü garlic is famous throughout Türkiye. The Kastamonu Sugar Factory, founded in 1963, brought new life to the provincial economy.

The region was also known for mining in the past. In the Candaroğulları period, copper and iron mines were worked and their output sold through the port of Sinop. Copper from the Küre mines was used to make cannon.