Izmir Mevlevi Lodge

Izmir Mevlevi Lodge

This empty space reached by climbing Patlicanli Descent, now home to a bunch of trees, was once one of the most important religious buildings in the city; Izmir Mevlevi Lodge and burial grounds. Despite being established relatively late, it has rapidly become one of the most important centres after Galata and Konya Mevlevi Lodges.

A document dated 1850 shows that Sheikh Hafiz Halil Effendi applied to build a Mevlevi Lodge. Another document from 1853 demonstrates a request for a rations allowance budget by Mevlevi Lodge sheikhs and acolytes. Therefore, Mevlevi Lodge must have been built sometime in this period. As a matter of fact, it was shown as a dervish lodge on a plan drawn by an Italian man in 1856. Sheikh Hafiz Halil Arif Dede was the first postnisin(1) of this Mevlevi Lodge.

Halil Arif Dede passed away in 1888, and was buried in burial grounds on the lodge. He was replaced by his son Sheikh Nuri Effendi as postnisin. Nuri Effendi, who became a Mevlevi sheikh at the age of 18, was a critic of sultan Abdul Hamid II. Therefore, he was arrested with his friends in 1889, and exiled to Bitlis. He could only return to Izmir in 1901. When he died in 1920, during Greek invasion, he was buried alongside his father in burial grounds of this Mevlevi lodge.

Regulars of this Mevlevi lodge include some famous names such as Rakim Elkutlu (composer), Sukru Senozan (composer and politician), and Neyzen Tevfik (poet, satirist, and neyzen(2)).

When lodges and zawiyahs were made illegal in 1925, this Mevlevi lodge was also closed down, and the building was left to its fate. Bought buy a local businessman, building became derelict due to lack of repairs and maintenance, and was demolished after a while. Part of the plot was expropriated for road construction. In the end, only remaining part is this little land, thought to be the burial grounds of the Mevlevi lodge.

1 Sheikh of a lodge, especially a Mevlevi lodge. Literally 'he who sits on the fleece'.

2 Ney player. Ney is a flute-like instrument made of bamboo.