Galata Whirling Dervish Hall

The Galata Mevlevihanesi, or tekke (TEHK-keh), is a Mevlevi Whirling Dervish hall on Galipdede Caddesi just south of Tünel Square, at the southern end of Beyoglu's Istiklal Caddesi in Istanbul.

Several different Mevlevi dervish groups use the Galata Mevlevihanesi for their activities, so the sema you attend on Saturday day may not be by the same group as the one on Sunday.

IMPORTANT NOTE: the Galata Mevlevihanesi may be closed for restoration when you visit (2008), meaning that performances of the sema will move to other halls.

The dervishes traditionally whirl every Sunday and some Saturdays throughout the year. Here's the schedule and how to buy tickets. (There are also performances at Sirkeci Gar (train station.)

The octagonal hall is a perfect place to witness the Mevlevî sema, or whirling worship ceremony. Buy your tickets in advance, as space is limited. More...

The Galata tekke has a long and revered history, having been founded in 1491 by a Ottoman grandee from the palace of Sultan Beyazit II. The tekke's first seyh (sheikh, leader) was Muhammed Semaî Sultan Divanî, a descendant of Mevlâna Jelaleddin Rumî himself.

The building you see is not the original, which burned in 1765, but its replacement, which was extensively restored between 1967 and 1972. (Another photo.)

Galip Dede, a renowned 17th-century sheikh of this tekke, is buried in an ornate tomb to the left as you enter from the street.

Kumbaracibasi Ahmet Pasha, better known in the west as the Comte de Bonneval, a French nobleman who converted to Islam and entered the sultan's service as a bombardier general, is also buried on the tekke's grounds, as is Ibrahim Müteferrika, who established the first Arabic/Ottoman printing press in the empire in the 1700s.

Mevlâna Jelaleddin Rumî

Mevlevi Whirling Dervishes

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Above, Mevlevi dervishes whirl during the sema in the Galata Mevlevihanesi.
Below, crowds wait outside the tekke to see the dervishes whirl.