Mevlâna Cultural Center, Konya

Konya's new Mevlâna Cultural Center (Mevlâna Kültür Merkezi), one kilometer east of the Mevlâna Museum, past the Üçler Mezarligi (cemetery), is the world's grandest and most modern whirling dervish tekke (hall).

Built to honor Mevlâna Jelaleddin Rumî and his Mevlevi (Whirling) Dervishes, the center has a huge Sema Hall and smaller spaces for other dervish-related and cultural activities.

For decades Konya's Mevlevi dervishes whirled in the city's Sports Hall, the largest enclosed space in the city, during Seb-i Aruz, the annual commemoration of Rumî's "wedding night with God" (his death). The Sports Hall's hardwood floor was suitable for the sema, but its bad acoustics, harsh lighting and basketball nets detracted from the mystic atmosphere.

With the opening of the Mevlâna Cultural Center, Konya's Mevlevi dervishes and Rumî's millions of admirers finally have a suitable place in which to celebrate Rumî's message of love, tolerance and respect.

If you'd like to attend the annual Seb-i Aruz commemorations in December, click here.

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The large Mevlâna Kültür Merkezi in Konya, Turkey.