The art of carpet weaving of high quality has been preserved in Spain and passed down from the Muslims of the Iberian Peninsula between 711 and 1492. The so-called “Spanish knot” is a carpet weaving technique that the Spanish government wants to include on the UNESCO List of Intangible Heritage. Spain has also submitted this technique to the United Nations Department of Education and Science.
According to Turkish Anadolu news agency, the Royal Carpet Weaving Factory, founded in Madrid, the capital of Spain, on the orders of King Felipe V in 1721, is now the only centre of carpet production, preserving the technique of the Spanish knot.
“Spanish knot” differs from the best known and most used technique in carpet weaving, “Turkish knot”, in that it cannot be used in curved patterns and is symmetrical on both sides, used only in linen, silk and fine wool yarns.
The Spanish zigzag knot technique makes more than 72 500 knots per square meter and is about twice as long and, therefore, more expensive than the Turkish knot.
Alejandro Klecker de Elizade, the General Director of the Royal Carpet Weaving Factory in Madrid, which is one of the rare places to use Turkish and Spanish knotting techniques in carpet weaving, told Anadolu reporters, “The history of technique in Andalusia goes back over 2300 years. However, the history of Andalusia goes back more than 2300 years”.
It is known that carpet weaving using the now Spanish knot technique originated in Egypt and came to the Iberian Peninsula during the Islamic period of Andalusia.
Klecker de Elizade explained that the Spanish knot technique was hardly used for a long time, because of the end of Muslim domination of the Iberian Peninsula in 1492 and the attempts of Catholic kings to completely erase the cultural history associated with Islam in the region, “Although there were many carpets in the XV and the XVI centuries, they were all woven with Turkish knots. The Spanish knot is very complex and more expensive. This technique was almost on the verge of extinction in the XVII century. In the XX century, weaving workshops were set up in three Spanish cities, but there was not much success in carpet production because there was not much demand”.
Klecker de Elizade stated that sales of carpets made using the Spanish knotting technique were very limited due to the high cost of the products. He stressed that he had high hopes for the Middle Eastern market, “Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are our priority customers. These countries consider themselves our Spanish-Muslim heritage. But we only have 12-14 people in our factory and even if we work at maximum efficiency we can produce a maximum of 20 carpets a year”.
The Royal Carpet Factory in Madrid produces both expensive “Spanish” and widespread “Turkish” carpets. “Palaces, parliament and senate buildings, many houses of noble Spanish families in Spain are stocked with Turkish carpets. For every 30 carpets we produce just one in the Spanish knotting technique,” Klecker de Elizade said.
Klecker de Elizade added that the Royal Carpet Factory initiated cooperation between Turkish and Spanish carpet weavers several years ago through the Turkish Embassy in Madrid. Stating that it would be very valuable to explore historical changes in Turkish and Spanish carpet art, the Director said, “It will be very important to rediscover the periods of carpet weaving, both Turkish and Spanish, and find points of convergence. In the culture of carpet weaving, Spain is the heir to the Middle East. Spain got its turquoise blue color, which it loves so much, from the Ottomans”.
Recalling that the Spanish Council of Ministers had decided to apply for the Spanish knot to be included in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Klecker de Elizade said that there was a great demand for such crafts at UNESCO and expressed the hope that the “Spanish knot” would be included in the list after understanding it historical and cultural peculiarities.
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