Tabriz: The Global City of Hand-Woven Rugs

Tabriz is the fifth-largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is a modern industrialized Iranian city with signs of civilization dating back 2,500 years. Tabriz for 2018 was announced by the Organization of the Islamic Conference as the “city of the Islamic world tourism”.

Tabriz contains many monuments that represent the transition of Iranian architecture throughout its deep history. Most of Tabriz’s preserved historical sites belong to Ilkhanid, Safavid, and Qajar eras.

Among all the handicrafts of Tabriz, this city is one of the most important carpet weaving centers in Iran, and these carpets have a wide variety. In 2015 Tabriz has been registered as the global hand-woven rug city by World Crafts Council.

Carpet weaving started in Tabriz before the Safavid era and is one of the oldest and most famous hand-woven carpet centers in the world. The raw materials used in Tabriz carpets are usually of wool or silk and woven with very high and excellent quality.

One of the most distinguished designs of this weave is “Mostofi”, or “Gol e Farang”, arabesuq, paisley, “Lachak o Toranj” paisley, “Mahi” or “Maherati”, “Goldani”, “Minakhani”, “Derakhti”, “Tasviri”, “Golestani” of the garden and “Shekargah” or hunting grounds.

In recent years we have seen innovations in Tabriz carpets that have not been seen before and have added value to these products. They also possess a wide variety of colors, such that using shades of color creates depths in this type of carpets. Their design is taken from the artistic inspirations of the most experienced design specialists and is performed according to all relevant standards.