Avanos Pottery

Avanos sits on the Kızılırmak, the longest river in Turkey, and the red clay it carries is the reason the town has been making pots for something like four thousand years - the trade is documented back to the Hittites and has not stopped since. Workshops line the streets and the riverbank, many cut back into the rock, and the traditional tool is the kick wheel: a heavy stone wheel driven by the potter's foot from a seated position, which most of the older masters still use and will demonstrate. Two clays are worked, the red river clay and a white one, and the range runs from Hittite-style ewers and the trick wine jugs called testi to modern tableware and the Kütahya-influenced painted ware. Visitors are welcome in most workshops and can sit at a wheel for a small fee, which is genuinely harder than it looks. Some shops are geared entirely to coach parties; the quieter side streets have working potters.

What you actually see

• The kick wheels - stone wheels driven by foot.
• The red river clay - Kızılırmak clay worked in the shops.
• The traditional forms - Hittite ewers and testi wine jugs.
• The rock workshops - studios cut back into the tuff.

When to go

Year-round; workshops keep ordinary hours and most close on Sundays. Mornings before the tour circuit arrives.

Honest expectations

Larger workshops run on coach commissions and the sales pressure can be heavy - the smaller back-street studios are better. Pottery is fragile and heavy to carry home; ask about packing.

Nearby

Paşabağ and Zelve are minutes south; Göreme is about ten kilometres.