Oltu Stone Craft

Oltu taşı is jet - fossilised wood compressed over millions of years into a dense black stone that is light, warm to the touch and takes a high polish - and the deposits at Oltu are among the very few worked commercially anywhere. It is mined in small shafts around the district, often by families, and carved in workshops in the town and in Erzurum: prayer beads above all, which are the main product and the thing local men buy, along with rings, cufflinks, cigarette holders, brooches and set silver jewellery. The stone is soft enough to cut and turn on simple lathes and hardens with polishing. A traditional test involves rubbing it to produce static, and dealers will demonstrate the difference between real jet and the plastic imitations that are widespread. It carries a geographical indication. Oltu is two hours from Erzurum through the Tortum valley, and if the drive is too much the Erzurum bazaar has the same pieces.

What you actually see

• The lathes - jet turned and shaped in the workshops.
• The prayer beads - the main product, strung and polished.
• The raw stone - unworked jet from the local shafts.
• The authenticity tests - dealers demonstrating real against imitation.

When to go

Year-round; weekday working hours to see carving. Erzurum's bazaar shops are open daily if you cannot make the drive to Oltu.

Honest expectations

Plastic imitations are widespread and sold as the real thing - buy from established workshops and ask for the tests. Genuine worked pieces are not cheap. Oltu is a two-hour drive each way.

Nearby

Narman's red badlands are south; the Tortum valley churches are on the road back to Erzurum.