The ritual of SEMA, the mystic dance of turning Mevlevi dervishs found its origin in an inspiration of the mystical islamic philosopher Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, who lived and taught in 13th century in the city of Konya in Middle Anatolia.

An important religious place for Muslim pilgrims from Turkey and other islamic countries is the Pond of Ibrahim (Abraham) in Urfa with holy carp, a complex of different mosques, the Mausoleum of Job and the cave, where the prophet Ibrahim was born.

Deyrulzafaran Monastery is located on a hill 4 km outside of Mardin in Southeastern Anatolia. It is an important religious place for Syriac Orthodox Christians in this region, called “Tur Abdin”.

For 640 years until 1932, the monastery was the residence of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs. Today the Monastery of Deyrulzafaran is the residence of the Archbishop of Mardin, visited by Syriac Orthodox Christians from all over the world.

The Ottoman caravanserai Cinci Han in the center of the old city of Safranbolu in the Black Sea region of Turkey is the largest building in town. Cinci Hoca let built the Hostel for traveling merchants in the 17th century. He was Chief Military Judge under the reign of Sultan Ibrahim I. (r.1640-1680). The dimensions of the building can guess how much Safranbolu benefited economically and culturally from the caravans, located at one of the main trade routes “Istanbul-Bolu-Amasya-Tokat-Sivas”.

“When you see my funeral don´t say: What for a separation.
It is time for me to meet the lover…“. Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, the great islamic mystical philosopher, who lived and taught in 13th century in the city of Konya in Middle Anatolia, Turkey, died on December 17 in the year 1273. This day is named as “Şeb-i-Arus”, what means literally translated “wedding night”…