Setting
Ardakan stands on the plain between Yazd and Meybod, with wind towers and a mud-brick old quarter.
Why this place matters for craft
The town shares the Yazd textile tradition and has been named in reports on zilu and cotton weaving in the district. Pistachio and desert agriculture dominate the economy.
Quarters, bazaars and workshops
| Area | What is there |
|---|---|
| Old quarter | Adobe lanes with occasional weaving rooms. |
What to look for on an object
- Cotton flatweave — Heavy reversible weave with stepped patterning; look for a loom-finished end rather than a hemmed edge.
These notes are for learning to look, not for authentication. No description here certifies an object, its age or its origin.
Practical notes
- Usually visited with Meybod on the way to or from Kashan.
- Workshop addresses, bazaar hours and market days change; confirm locally before travelling.
Season: Autumn to spring.
Used in these crafts
A dense, pileless cotton floor covering woven on a horizontal loom, historically centred on the town of Meybod near Yazd, known for its plain-weave structure and geometric pattern created through warp and weft colour arrangement.
A patterned Iranian brocade woven with supplementary wefts, historically in silk and wool, associated above all with Yazd and Kerman.
A hand-knotted pile textile woven across Iran in city workshops, village looms and pastoral camps, distinguished by regional structure, palette and design vocabulary.