Megerian Carpet

This guide to Megerian Carpet in Yerevan opens with a puzzle a factory guide named Galina poses to visitors: why does a carpet workshop keep old wine barrels around? From there it traces the Megerian family's path from a rug-repair shop opened in 1917 New York to their return to Armenia in 2002, when they bought a Soviet-era factory and ripped out its chemical dye vats. You'll hear how pomegranate rind, walnut shells and madder root became the new dye pantry, and what role that hardened wine-barrel crust plays in making the colors last. Listen near the dye room to catch the smell of the vats as the wool goes in.