Kemaliye door knockers are authentic door knockers which are still made by Mustafa and his son Ali Demircioglu. They are best handmade door knockers because all of them are beautifully handcrafted and shaped. Those unique door knockers have different patterns and different meanings.
Father And Son
The story of our artisans are little bit interesting. Mustafa Demircioglu is 5th generation artisan who makes handmade door knockers. When he was child he remembered that old doors had been burnt with their authentic door knockers and he was was crying for that.
He says ’ I felt so miserable whenever I saw a burning door because it is old’’.
kemaliye door knockers
Then he thinks that he should have done something less miserable. But his love of those unique door knockers never left him. One day a man came and saw the beautifully detailed Kemaliye door knockers. He ordered 20 authentic door knockers. Everything started with this order.They made the order but could get the payment 90 days later.Those 20 handmade door knockers were given to the locals by that man. And people heard about those unique door knockers day by day. They still make unique door knockers beautifully detailed, Mustafa and Ali are making those handmade door knockers with love. He and his son also search for the old authentic door knockers to protect our history.
Kemaliye Door Knockers are unique
Mustafa and his son Ali are getting the iron and steels from the local factory and they use hand carving methods for the unique door knockers. Because people are not aware of those Kemaliye door knockers value, The Ministry of Culture has worked on informing the values of this work of art. The villages around some people unfortunately got rid of those doors and unique door knockers because they are old, they burn them or break into pieces to warm themselves. Most patterns has been lost until today. Nevertheless there is still hope. Mustafa and Ali are doing their best to find those authentic doors and door knockers to protect them.
800 Year old Church Door Luck
They found 800 year old church door lock in the river which was about to melt if they didn’t find in time. That door lock has two different locks for two saints and one couldn’t open the door alone. Both locks at the same time opened the church door. The keys were missing so they made a sample of keys. Now they exhibit that item in their workshop. Mustafa and his son Ali asked to make authentic door knockers and locks for the Museum of Samsun, Cifte Minare in Erzurum and many others. Because they are the only handmade door knockers artisans in the world for 5 generations
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Of course they have difficulties to make their advertising. It is hard to tell people how they are best at making unique door knockers. And we try to support them to continue their works of art. If we think manufacturing is increasing and handmade is decreasing you can understand how important to support such artisans and preserve our handmade door knockers fort he next generations.
The Patterns
The patterns of those handmade door knockers are the best examples of metal art; door knockers and adornments on mirrors located at either religious or residential structures in Kemaliye (Eğin), where the most classic exemplars of traditional Anatolian architecture are seen. For this purpose, people built the doors of the houses in traditional style in 10 neighborhoods in central Kemaliye and 51 out of the 62 villages. Those are photographed and sketched using the carburization method. Then the handmade door knockers mounted the door’s surface which show the richness and loyalty of the landlord.
The common meanings of the snake pattern is devil and evil can not go home. It symbolizes the landlord protects his home. The rose pattern has a lot of meanings which is secret love or beauty of love and life. Many cultures uses the Eagle pattern that symbolizes the strength and protection. Or the tree pattern symbolizes the family and relations of your family.
In The History
Since we have been in Kemaliye it was great to see the town and hospitality of people. In the streets there are many old style houses with their authentic door knockers on. Besides it is called ‘’slow city’’ which has river near the town and mountains behind. When you visit Kemaliye you can easily understand why they make unique door knockers. Because they have unique history and nature. You can see ‘’Karanlık Kanyon ‘’ which the locals carved the rocks and built their own road. The name of the town is also Egin.
The story of Kemaliye deals with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. In the Independence War Ataturk and his soldiers lived though times and didn’t have enough soldiers to fight. Egin texted Ataturk and wrote ‘’ We are coming there with our people to defend the country’’ After the war Ataturk never forgot this moment and those people, thus he gave the town a second name, Kemaliye. The town had his best times at literature and art in Mengujekids (Modern Turkish: Mengüçoğulları or Mengücek Beyliği or Mengüçlü Beyliği ) times. The Mengujekids ruled the regions of Erzincan, Kemah, Şebinkarahisar and Divriği in Eastern Anatolia in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Seljuk Empire followed it. Many researchers and historian made researched those civilizations and found remarkable things in Kemaliye.
If you visit Kemaliye one day, eat Lok Sweet treat, go jogging, take pictures of authentic and historical view, explore more.
