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Avanos is a town in Cappadocia, Turkey. It’s located north of the UNESCO World Heritage listed Göreme Historical National Park (Göreme Tarihî Milli Parkı) and is often a stop on tours of the region.
History of Avanos
Avanos is known for its ceramic production dating back to Hittite times. It sits on the Kızılırmak River, which translates to Red River in English. The river is rich in the red clay used to make the ceramics. In ancient times, the town was known as Venessa (Βενέσσα). That changed to Avanos (Άβανος) during Byzantine times. Today, it’s a pleasant town with a nice riverside area.
Craft Demonstrations at Avanos
Avanos is a popular stop on guided tours for craft demonstrations. Just about every tour will visit a pottery workshop while other tours might throw in a carpet demonstration as well. I’ve visited Avanos twice, both times on a guided tour, and have seen both types of demonstrations. I stopped at pottery and carpet stores during my visits.
Pottery Demonstration at Venessa Seramik
As previously mentioned, Avanos has been known throughout history for its ceramics dating back to Hittite times. Hittite designs and patterns live on in the town’s ceramic art to this day. To witness this ancient tradition firsthand, we visited Venessa Seramik.
Obviously, the main purpose was to push us to buy their work, but we didn’t feel pressured at all. It was actually a very informative and entertaining stop. is a producer of high-quality handmade ceramic arts.
Demonstration
After being greeted by our host, one of the owners, our group was led to a showroom for a demonstration. A master ceramic artist sat down behind a pottery wheel and began to make a wine jug based on an ancient Hittite design. He’s one of the last remaining masters in what’s unfortunately a dying craft.
As the master concentrated on his work, the owner gave us a brief history of ceramics and pottery in Avanos. He also explained each step the master took to create the wine jug.
After the jug was finished, the master sliced it in half to show us a cross section of how it works. We were then given the chance to try our hand at making our own pottery. One of our group members stepped up to the wheel and made a simple vase.
Workshop
Next, we followed our host to the workshop. At our first stop, we briefly watched a master painter working on a huge plate with Hittite designs. He would be retiring after several years of ceramic painting, and this plate would be considered his masterpiece.
From there, we saw the ovens where the pieces are baked. Our host explained how sensitive the clay is and that the temperature and baking time has to be absolutely perfect.
He then showed us how the pieces are glazed. One plate he held up gave us a good look at the different steps of glazing and painting.
Showroom
Finally, we finished the tour in the showroom. Of course, we were given complimentary Turkish tea or coffee and taken to the most expensive pieces first. These were all handmade pieces crafted by some of Turkey’s best ceramic artists. Many pieces were Hittite designs while others featured Ottoman or Islamic art.
The main room in the showroom contained the less expensive works. These were done by apprentices or mass produced items. They were still of high quality but the designs were nothing like the pieces done by masters.
In the end, we spent about five minutes browsing and didn’t buy anything. First of all, we had no desire to buy and we made that clear from the beginning. We also didn’t want to have to carry anything with us for the rest of the trip or pay for shipping to send it home. Regardless, the host was gracious and he never pressured us once. That made the experience much more enjoyable than “demonstrations” in other countries (cough, cough, Egypt).
Carpet Demonstration at Sentez Halı
The carpet demonstration took place at Sentez Halı, which features huge vats outside. They display how different colored dyes are extracted from items found in nature.
The next part of the demonstration showed how silk is extracted from silkworm cocoons. A machine holding cocoons soaked in hot water spun the silk threads directly from the cocoons. Each cocoon can produce up to 2.5 kilometers of thread.
I then saw local women working directly at their looms creating beautiful handmade silk carpets. Some of the more experienced women were weaving very intricate patterns.
Finally, the demonstration ended with a few men throwing carpets on the floor. Of course, this was a hard sale starting with the most expensive carpets. One was a ridiculous US$50,000! The quality and price kept dropping quickly from there. After realizing I wasn’t going to spend anything, they gave up and made smalltalk with me. At least I enjoyed the complimentary Turkish tea.
Kızılırmak Bridge
On my second visit to Avanos in June 2022, after finishing up at Venessa Seramik, we went straight to the center of town. We took a short walk through town to cross the Kızılırmak Bridge (Kızılırmak Köprüsü).
The Kızılırmak Bridge crosses the Kızılırmak River, which is known as the Halys (Ἅλυς) River in Greek. It’s the longest river flowing entirely within Turkey.
The bridge is a narrow suspension bridge for pedestrian traffic only. We walked across along with several local families out enjoying the day. It gets pretty wobbly but that adds to the fun.
Riverwalk
On the other side of the bridge is a riverwalk. It’s partially lined with cafés and restaurants, and it’s possible to hire a Venetian gondola for a short river cruise. Before continuing our tour of Cappadocia, we stopped at a local branch of Mado along the riverwalk for some ice cream and Turkish coffee.
