Living on this Earth, we always strive for harmony and to be in a state of happiness every day of our lives... We often hear wise philosophical sayings with which we agree... Something like: Everything that is not done is for the better. Or: God knows best what I need.... But unfortunately our human nature is imperfect and we often fall into a state of depression, despair or resentment or misunderstanding of the events that happen to us...
So, today I will tell you about a city that has a special spiritual significance in Turkey, because here is the spirit of the dancing dervishes - the personification of spiritual strength and balance...
Sufi homes hotelI've heard a lot about the mysterious monks with the strange name Mevlyana... The city of Konya. On my last trip, I decided to rent a hotel in this city to spend the night in the middle of my long journey. My daughter @bugavi doesn't like staying in hotels. We always look for accommodation on Airbnb. But this was an exception: we checked in late at night, and in the morning we had to hit the road. So we decided to choose a hotel with breakfast. And without even expecting it, we got a pleasant surprise. Having driven up to an ordinary house and going inside, we were pleasantly surprised by the beauty and retro style.
This is what I like most about traveling - learning the history of the cities I visit.
So here I could get to know the main essence of the city of Konya. Everywhere in the hall there were paintings and souvenirs that symbolized these mysterious monks, who many years ago came from Afghanistan and settled in Konya.
We were greeted by friendly staff who spoke perfect English. It was nice that there was parking nearby, we could take unlimited drinking water for free, breakfast was the next morning from 8 to 10 am, and check-out from the hotel was at 12 pm.
We had a great night's rest, and after breakfast we could enjoy our stay at the hotel for another two hours and not rush to check out. We liked living here so much that the next time, on the way to Cappadocia, we stopped at this hotel again!
There were clay jars by the door of our room. The Cappadocia region is famous for its clay products. It looks incredibly beautiful and exotic.
So, after 12 o'clock we walked for several hours in the city, which became famous thanks to the spiritual heritage of the Mevlana Whirling Dervishes.
We arrived at the central square, where the Suleymaniye Mosque is located, which amazes with its grandeur. Luxurious columns, arches, gates decorated with jewels... A feeling of the greatness of the Ottoman Empire.
Selimiye Mosque Selimiye Camii is a 16th-century Ottoman architectural monument located in Konya, Turkey. Its construction began in 1558 by order of Sultan Selim II, son of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and Hürrem Sultan.
The mosque is located next to the Mevlana Museum. It attracts attention with its magnificent architecture, which includes a spacious dome supported by columns of red and white stone, as well as isolated decorations in the form of muqarnas - geometric ornaments characteristic of the Islamic classical style. Near the mosque there is a well, which is also striking in its beauty. Here, faithful Muslims perform the rite of washing their feet before entering the shrine.
Here we are walking near the famous shrine, enjoying the architectural masterpiece of the Mevlana Museum. The turquoise dome, which is clearly visible from afar, is especially beautiful.
A little history I learned about these famous people:
The Sufi Mevlana was a great poet and philosopher. His real name was Jalaluddin Rumi. He founded the Mevlevi Sufi order in Konya, known for its ritual dances.
His teachings were based on the ideas of love and seeking God through the heart!
After Mevlana's death, his followers built a mausoleum on his grave, with the support of the Sultan of the Seljuk Empire. Today, this mausoleum is an important place of Sufi tradition and spiritual heritage
Now a museum has been created here, where Rumi's tombs are located, as well as manuscripts, dervish clothing, musical instruments, and there is even a hall where tourists can understand the spiritual essence of the unique dance of whirling dervishes.
The Sema dance consists of circular, rotating movements performed in a certain order to the accompaniment of a flute and accompanied by readers reciting mystical spiritual verses.
Mevlevi dervishes could whirl for quite a long time without feeling dizzy.
Starting the Sema, the dervish raises his right hand to the sky, as if in prayer, and lowers his left hand, palm down to the ground: “We take from God and distribute to the people. We leave nothing for ourselves. We are only intermediaries, and nothing more can be found in our appearance ... " Symbolically, the Sema means the whirling of worlds around the Sun of Truth. The circular dance encourages the spirit to separate from the corporeal shell, to leave the confines of the earth and ascend to the heavens...
After visiting the historical architectural monuments, we felt hungry, walked around the city, which is bustling with active tourist life. We bought peanuts and dates. Walking between the beautiful two-story houses, we felt the spirit of the city of Konya, where old traditions are mixed with modern life.
Before getting in the car and leaving Konya, we walked by another mosque, where there was a fountain and many pigeons in the square. These birds are truly a symbol of peace, always giving pleasure to tourists with their noisy life :)
Thank you for your visit 😊🙏🏻Our #TheLongestTrip is in its third year...
You can check out this post and your own profile on the map. Be part of the Worldmappin Community and join our Discord Channel to get in touch with other travelers, ask questions or just be updated on our latest features.
Very beautiful place, and the pictures you shared also look so beautiful and perfect.
Wow, this really felt like traveling with yah! thanks for the tour!
Congratulations @olga.maslievich! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
Your next target is to reach 310000 upvotes.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out our last posts:
In fact, we don't want to, so how beautiful things become, how beautiful there are, how many things there are. Your daughter doesn't like to spend the night in a hotel, but you like it. In fact, the place is worth seeing and the beautiful art that can be seen from here is actually the beauty of the hotel and the customers of the hotel will start from it and enjoy a new beauty tradition for everyone.