Korca Carpet Weaving

The Korca plateau in south-eastern Albania has a long tradition of flat-woven wool carpets and kilims, made on vertical and horizontal looms in households and later in workshops, with a palette running to dark red, indigo, black and undyed wool and designs built from geometric bands, hooked diamonds and stylised motifs rather than curvilinear pattern. Korca carpets were exported in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the town had a substantial industry. Production fell heavily but has continued on a small scale, with workshops in and around the city and pieces sold in the bazaar, and old carpets turn up in the antique shops. The wool comes from the surrounding highland flocks and traditional dyeing has partly been revived.

What you actually see

• Geometric banded kilims - the flat-woven designs of the plateau.
• Dark red and indigo wool - the traditional palette.
• Vertical loom weaving - the technique still used in workshops.
• Old pieces in the bazaar - antique carpets in the Korca shops.

When to go

Year round; weaving is winter work traditionally. One to two hours to look through workshops and shops. The Korca bazaar has the concentration of dealers.

Honest expectations

Much of what is sold is machine-made or imported; genuine handwoven pieces are expensive and need judgement to identify. Workshop visits are informal and depend on the weaver. Prices for visitors start high.

Nearby

The Korca old bazaar is where the dealers are; Voskopoja lies west.