So what do Ebru (marbling) and Turkish coffee have in common?  Well, they are both listed by UNESCO as cultural traditions requiring protection.

We all know about the UNESCO World Heritage list of places deemed worthy of protection, but it is a lesser known fact that UNESCO collates lists of cultural practices and traditions. Officially, this is known as being “inscribed” on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Last week UNESCO officially listed Ebru, the art of Turkish marbling under the category of Intangible Cultural Heritage.  Ebru is the traditional Turkish art of creating beautiful,  marble-like patterned paper, better known as marbling.

In 2013 UNESCO inscribed Turkish coffee under the same category.  “Intangible Cultural Heritage” refers to practices, expressions, knowledge and skills passed from generation to generation.

Getting listed by UNESCO is no mean feat.  The process for listing both Turkish coffee and Ebru began in 2010 when the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism did an inventory of its cultural heritage items, and submitted this list to UNESCO.  UNESCO then puts the list through its checks and balances, and this is a process that can take several years to complete.

Turkey also has many places listed by UNESCO, but more about that next post.

Thinking of coming to Turkey? Fez Travel has a range of tours to suit every timeframe and budget.

Photo:  By Ji-Elle (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons