Alice White
The Turkish Angora is one of the world’s oldest aboriginal breeds. It is a graceful and sociable cat with long silky hair.
#1 The Turkish Angora is a favorite breed of aristocrats and rulers with a long history of development.
Angora cats of snow-white color with blue or bicolor (one blue, the other yellow) eyes are especially appreciated. An agile, playful animal requires minimal care and can be trained well. A majestic and graceful pet is attached to only one person, whom it recognizes as the owner.
#2 Felinologists have not been able to find out exactly when and how this breed arose – Angora cats lived next to humans for many centuries.
Presumably, their progenitor was a Caucasian forest cat who lived in the Middle Ages in Turkey. The breed appeared and developed on the territory of this state, receiving its name in honor of the city of Ankara, which has been the capital since 1923. For the first time, wayward furry pets were mentioned in local legends of the 15th century. Only noble people could afford to keep cats of white color with bicolor eyes, although other colors were also natural. It was believed that the ruler of Turkey should be a person who would be bitten by such an animal. Another legend explaining the veneration of Angora cats says that one of the national saints had eyes of different colors.
#3 In Europe, the Turkish Angora appeared at the beginning of the 17th century thanks to an Italian aristocrat
Traveling around Turkey, Persia, and India, he became interested in unusual white cats with long hair. The Italian took a couple of fluffy beauties with him.
The Turkish Angora immediately became very popular, especially in the French court. It is known that one of the first owners of the Angora cat in Europe was none other than the all-powerful Cardinal de Richelieu. Later, the pets of this breed were chosen by no less famous French: Louis XIV, Marie-Antoinette, Victor Hugo, Théophile Gaultier. The Angora cat was the favorite of the Russian Empress Catherine the Great. However, despite its popularity, no one was engaged in its systematic selection.
