Songhor Rugs
Songhor is in Kermanshah province, western Iran, in Kurdish weaving country. The rugs are village pieces with the sturdy handle and honest geometry that Kurdish work is known for.
Runners are the most common shape here, with accent and area sizes alongside them. Each rug is a genuine vintage piece, decades old and the only one like it.
Songhor: Kurdish village rugs from Kermanshah
Songhor is a town in Kermanshah province in western Iran, in the middle of Kurdish weaving country. The rugs are unglamorous in the best sense: sturdy, geometric, honestly made, and built for floors rather than for walls.
Kurdish weaving in this part of Iran is known for good wool and for a firm, slightly heavy handle. Songhor is a clear example of both.
What a Songhor usually looks like
- Drawing: stepped and hooked medallions, repeating boteh, and strong multi stripe borders.
- Color: madder red and indigo dominant, with camel, ivory and occasional soft green.
- Construction: wool pile on cotton, firm, medium weight, hard wearing.
- Sizes: runners are the most common shape here, with area and accent pieces alongside.
Where they earn their keep
Songhor runners are a practical answer to a long hallway or a galley kitchen. The pattern repeats often enough that the runner does not look truncated when it stops, and the build takes daily traffic.
In area sizes they suit studies and family rooms, where a formal city carpet would feel out of place.
Kurdish wool
The fleece from this region is high in lanolin, which makes the pile resilient and gives it a slight sheen that deepens with age rather than dulling. It is also why these rugs clean well: dirt tends to sit on the fiber rather than bond to it.
Songhor rug questions, answered
Is Songhor a well known name?
Less so than Bijar or Sanandaj, which are the famous Kurdish weaving centers. Songhor rugs are often sold simply as Kurdish, so seeing the town named is unusual.
Are Kurdish rugs Persian rugs?
Rugs woven by Kurdish weavers inside Iran are Persian rugs. The two descriptions are about different things, one geographic and one cultural.
How do they handle heavy traffic?
Well. This is one of the more robust village weaves in western Iran.
Choosing your Songhor
Start with shape, then ground color. Every rug here is a genuine vintage piece and one of a kind.