Wender·Vista
Kayseri
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileTurkey
at the foot of Mount Erciyes in central Anatolia

Kayseri

— — the mountain the city watches every morning.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“An old caravan city under the snow line of Erciyes, the volcano that has watched it since long before the Seljuks built their walls. Kayseri cures pastırma in the autumn wind and folds mantı by the thousand. The dome of the Great Mosque keeps the centre. The mountain keeps everything else.

from the studio
Kayseri
— bring it home

Kayseri, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Kayseri

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Kayseri sits on a high plain in central Anatolia at roughly 1,054 metres, in the shadow of Mount Erciyes, a 3,917-metre stratovolcano. The city, ancient Caesarea of Cappadocia, named for the Roman emperor, has been a regional capital for more than two thousand years. Population today is about 1.4 million. It rose to prominence under the Anatolian Seljuks in the thirteenth century, and its medieval core still holds mosques, tombs, and madrasas from that period.

— informed by Wikipedia — Kayseri
— the stone

The Seljuk century left Kayseri an open-air museum of dark volcanic masonry. The Hunat Hatun Complex (1238), built for a wife of Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad, anchors the old centre. The Döner Kümbet, a twelve-sided cylindrical tomb from around 1276, sits a short walk south. The Sahabiye Medrese (1267) holds a courtyard portal carved with the geometric vocabulary that travelled across the Seljuk world. The local basalt, quarried from Erciyes, gives the buildings their weathered, dark surface.

— the year

Two seasons shape Kayseri. In autumn the dry plateau wind cures pastırma, the air-dried spiced beef the city has been making since at least the Byzantine period; whole districts hang racks of beef through October and November. In winter the Erciyes ski runs open on the volcano's flanks from December into April, drawing skiers from across Anatolia. Mantı, small lamb dumplings folded by the thousand, are made throughout the year in the home kitchens that built Kayseri's name in Turkish cuisine.

— informed by Wikipedia — Pastırma
— where
Turkey · Kayseri Province, Central Anatolia
— elevation
1,054 m · 3,458 ft
— position
38.7335° N · 35.4853° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
25 km S
Mount Erciyes
stratovolcano
70 km W
Göreme
Cappadocia rock landscape
150 km NW
Sultanhanı
Seljuk caravanserai
N
Kayseri
Mount Erciyes
Göreme
Sultanhanı
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Kayseri — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Kayseri sits on the central Anatolian plateau in Turkey, at about 1,054 metres elevation, in the shadow of Mount Erciyes, a 3,917-metre stratovolcano. The metropolitan population is roughly 1.4 million.

Caesarea of Cappadocia, named for the Roman emperor. It served as the regional Roman capital and was an early centre of Christianity; Basil of Caesarea, the fourth-century theologian, was its bishop.

The Anatolian Seljuks made Kayseri a capital in the thirteenth century. The Hunat Hatun Complex (1238), Döner Kümbet (around 1276), and Sahabiye Medrese (1267) survive from that century in the old centre.

Pastırma is air-dried beef cured with a paste of fenugreek, garlic and paprika. Kayseri has been a centre of its production since at least the Byzantine period; the dry autumn wind shapes the curing.

Yes. The Erciyes ski resort on the volcano's flanks operates from December into April, with runs above the city's southern edge and a base station reachable in under an hour by road.

— about the piece in your home

It has carried well for customers with family ties to central Anatolia. Kayseri is the mountain city Turks recognise at a glance; a Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio travels easily.

The dark Seljuk basalts and the white volcano cap pair with warm minimalist, Mediterranean-modern, and stone-and-plaster interiors. The piece works against limewash and reclaimed-oak walls; less well against high-gloss contemporary.

It fits the slow-mountain palette that has shaped alpine-modern and mountain-modern interiors for several seasons: quiet darks, snow-light, and unsoftened stone. The artwork holds rooms with handwoven textiles and unpolished metal.

A single Large carries a sofa wall on its own. For a longer wall, a four-tile Mural opens the mountain across the room. Above a console, a Medium is usually the right scale.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and stand humidity well. The Glossy finish is best kept to drier rooms or framed wall display.

A microfibre cloth and a little water. No abrasives, no ammonia-based cleaners. The colour lives in the surface itself rather than on top of it, so normal household contact does not affect the image.

Yes. Every WenderVista tile is made in our Knoxville studio in a single visual language Reid has been developing for years. We do not licence the artwork to other shops.

— if this one stayed with you

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