Antalya's 'carpet fields' a sight to behold


Stretching across 85,000 square meters, fields owned by a carpet dealer in southern Turkey's Antalya province are unique for their purpose and gives visitors an extraordinary landscape.

Across thousands of acres, hand-made carpets of all kinds are laid out under the sun in a process to soften their colors, before they are exported to customers around the globe. Halil Börekçi purchases old rugs and carpets far past their prime and with his employees, exposes them to sunlight after a thorough cleaning process.

Their colors soften in the end, and the carpets are ready to be re-sold again. Some only take 10 days to be restored to their old glory, while some intricate pieces require about a three-year stay in the sun, Börekçi says.