Architectural Features of Bektashi Lodges: Haci Bektash Veli Tekke (Nevşehir) and Seyyid Ali Sultan Tekke (Didymoteicho)


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İbrahimgil A.

Gazi University Journal of Science Part B: Art Humanities Design and Planning, vol.11, no.3, pp.571-587, 2023 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)

Abstract

Dervish lodges, also known as tekkes, have played a significant role in Islamic society, offering multifaceted services and impacting various aspects of life. These institutions have been instrumental in supporting the establishment of Turkish Islamic states and providing services to the state. Hodja Ahmet Yassawi (d. 1166) organized these units in Khorasan as institutions ensuring social integration in newly conquered areas. Hodja Ahmet Yassawi (d. 1166) contained these units in Khorasan as institutions providing social integration in newly conquered areas. As of the 1150s, they became effective in Anatolia's social, political, and military fields. Especially when Anatolia came under Mongol domination, the Bektashi order, which belonged to the Babaîism branch, came to the fore regarding social, political, and military influence. The research subject of this study focuses on the architectural features of Haci Bektash Veli Tekke in Nevşehir, the administrational center of Bektashism, and Seyyid Ali (Kızıldeli) Sultan Tekke in Didymoteicho, the administrational center of Bektashism in Balkans. Apart from belonging to the same order, both lodges were shaped by Balim Sultan from the beginning of the 16th century. Also, the architectural features of the tekke buildings were compared. This study analyzes the representation of the same cultural continuity in Anatolia and the Balkans architecturally. The architectural features of the tekke buildings subject to the research are discussed within the framework of cultural continuity and the Asian central space tradition. The spatial organization of the buildings in the Seyyid Ali Sultan Tekke in Didymoteicho is illustrated with drawings after explaining the order bases and the related spatial organization in the Haci Bektash Veli Tekke in Nevşehir, which is accepted as the house of the Pîr.