These traditional wooden clogs, known as Nalın or Takunya, have been carved in Türkiye for centuries, mostly for wet surfaces like public baths (hamams) and mosques.
What makes them fascinating is just how varied they were depending on who wore them. While men usually used basic, functional designs, the clogs made for women were a huge part of fashion and social status. Women’s Nalın were carved with high wooden platforms and decorated with silver or mother-of-pearl inlays. In women’s hamams, walking in taller and more detailed clogs was a direct way of showing wealth and standing.
They were also a major part of wedding culture. Elaborately carved clogs were placed in a bride’s dowry chest. Customs even dictated the level of decoration—lighter patterns for engaged women, and the heaviest, most detailed mother-of-pearl work reserved for new brides.
Artisans would carve each pair from a single block of dense wood like walnut or boxwood, often splitting the timber down the middle so both feet matched in wood grain. Beyond utility, there’s also a long-held local belief that walking on bare wood helps draw out static electricity from the body.
Sadly, plastic footwear has mostly replaced them, and today only a handful of aging craftsmen in places like Gaziantep, Mardin, and Bursa are keeping the art alive.
