Turkish Textiles: A Buyer's Guide to Cotton, Silk and Handwoven Fabrics

Turkey's textile tradition is one of the oldest and most varied in the world. The country sits at the crossroads of the ancient Silk Road and maintains active craft traditions in silk weaving, cotton spinning, natural dyeing and traditional embroidery alongside its modern industrial textile sector — one of Turkey's largest export industries.

Peştemal — The Hammam Towel

The peştemal is the flat-woven cotton or linen cloth used in Turkish baths — lightweight, fast-drying and increasingly recognised internationally. A good peştemal is softer than a standard towel after washing, more absorbent than it looks, and versatile enough to use as a beach wrap, picnic blanket or lightweight layer.

Quality varies enormously. The best peştemal are made from 100% natural cotton or linen, hand-loomed rather than machine-woven, with fringed or knotted ends. The key test: hold the fabric up to the light — hand-woven cloth shows a slightly irregular weave; machine-woven cloth is perfectly regular. Denizli in the Aegean region is the main quality production centre.

Bursa Silk

Bursa was the Ottoman Empire's silk capital — the endpoint of the Silk Road from China. The Koza Han in central Bursa still functions as a silk market and active weaving workshops remain in the city. Bursa silk fabrics — scarves, shawls and lengths of cloth — are among the finest produced in Turkey. The lustre and softness of genuine Bursa silk is immediately apparent to the touch.

Traditional Embroidery

Oya — needle lace traditionally used to edge headscarves — is produced in different regional styles across Anatolia and is one of Turkey's most distinctive traditional craft forms. Hand-embroidered textiles from Şanlıurfa and Mardin reflect the region's complex cultural mix and are among the most distinctive items available in Turkish markets.

Where to Buy

For peştemal: Denizli's wholesale market, Istanbul's Egyptian Bazaar and specialist shops in Bodrum. For Bursa silk: Koza Han in Bursa directly. For embroidery: the bazaars of Şanlıurfa and Mardin.

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