Pas kontuszowy ("kontusz belt") was a cloth belt used for compassing a kontusz. It was one of the most distinctive items of dress of Polish and Lithuanian szlachta.
Like the rest of Polish national dress, the kontusz belt was of eastern origin. It comprised a 3- to 4.5-meter-long strip of silk or other fabric covered with varied designs. Depending on the belt's width, it might be folded a number of ways so as to reveal various designs on various ocasions.
Initially such belts were imported from Persia and Turkey. In the 17th century several belt manufactories were founded at places all over the Republic, such as Kobyłka , Grodno, Kraków and Gdańsk. The largest and most notable manufactories, however, were at Słuck. Belts produced there were considered the most desirable and were also the most expensive. Because of the popularity of the pas kontuszowy produced there, it was sometimes called pas słucki (Słuck belt).
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