Oriental Rugs Glossary

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Kars

The city of Kars is located in North East Turkey bordering with Russia and Iran and is the capital of the province Kars. The word "Kars" comes from the name of the Turkish/Bulgarian tribe of "Karzak" (130 A.D.) In the 9th and 10th century Kars was the capital of an independent Armenian kingdom. Kars is inhabited by Turks, Kurds and Armenians which also reflects the variety of rugs made there. Fortunately the Caucasians living in Kars kept up their carpet tradition, therefore the typical Kars rug resembles the traditional Caucasian rug most. It has a famous originality which - apart from other things - is created by working rather unprecise and thus paying credit to the beginnings of carpet making.