Mevlevihane Müzesi

Antalya Mevlevihane Museum houses a building complex consisting of the Mevlevihane, Bath, Zincikıran Mehmet Bey Tomb and Nigâr Hatun Tombs.

The Mevlevihane structure is located on a raised terrace within the group of buildings that also includes Yivli Minare. The building is a two-storey masonry structure of rectangular form, measuring 13,45x32,22 metres. In the east of the main space entered through an arched door on the south façade is an iwan covered with a pointed vault; there is one room in the northeast, two in the north, and three in the west, all covered with barrel vaults. These rooms are thought to have been used by the dervishes staying in the Mevlevihane. Although it is said that the building was constructed in the Seljuk Period as a Mevlevihane or dervish lodge building, in a 19th-century source, Sultan Korkud-Alâeddin Zaviye is referred to with the phrase “sahibu-l hayrat vel-hasenat,” and by referring to Şehzade Korkud as the founder and benefactor of the Mevlevihane, it is understood that the building in question functioned as a Mevlevihane in the Ottoman Period from the beginning of the 16th century. Indeed, when Evliya Çelebi saw it in the 17th century, the building was also being used as a Mevlevihane.

The bath structure, also referred to by names such as Mevlevihane Bath, Yivli Minare Bath, and Yivli Minare Külliyesi Bath, is not known exactly when it was built. It has a rectangular plan of approximately 8.50x11.00 metres. It is thought that the bath, with its plan, dimensions and location, was designed for private use rather than to serve crowded groups. Although there are views that it was built as a “Palace Bath” in the first quarter of the 13th century, it is known that in the Ottoman Period it functioned as the Mevlevihane bath from the beginning of the 16th century.

Nigâr Hatun was the mother of Şehzade Korkud, son of Bayezid II, and Fatma Sultan, and lived between 1450-1503. It is known that when Şehzade Korkud was appointed from Manisa to the Antalya Sanjak Governorship, she was with her son, died in the same year, and was buried in Antalya. The structure was built using neatly cut stone, rubble stone and brick, with reused marble pieces also used in places. Although it cannot be determined with certainty, it is understood that this tomb structure, which stylistically resembles Seljuk tombs, may have been built at the earliest in the 15th century Ottoman Period.

Zincirkıran Mehmet Tomb was built of finely dressed stone and has an octagonal body rising on a square base with a pyramidal roof. Inside are three sarcophagi said to have previously been covered with tiles. The marble inscription above the door, filled with two lines of thuluth script, states that it was commissioned by Muhammed, son of Mahmud, son of Yunus Bey, for his deceased son Ali, in late December 1377.

Source: "Mevlevihane Museum", Antalya Museum, http://www.antalyamuzesi.gov.tr/TR-219463/mevlevihane-muzesi.html, 2019

Places to Visit in Antalya Address: Selçuk Mahallesi İskele Caddesi Yivli Minare Camii Yanı Kaleiçi - Muratpaşa / ANTALYA