The underground foundations of the Edirne Mevlevi Lodge to be rebuilt have been reached and construction will begin shortly.
Excavations initiated by Edirne Museum Directorate and Provincial Special Administration teams in the garden of Muradiye Mosque continue.
The foundations of the Mevlevi Lodge were reached during the works.
The building will be revived according to the restoration project that will be prepared in light of the data obtained from the excavation.
Edirne Governor Yunus Sezer told reporters that the Mevlevi Lodge, which was built after the Konya Mevlevi Lodge, had served Edirne and the Balkans for 500 years.
Governor Sezer, who stated that the works for the restoration of the structure are continuing rapidly, said, “It is a structure that has survived until the early years of the Republic. There are some photographs of the structures there dating back to the 1960s. An excavation is being carried out for identification. On the one hand, the project is being prepared. We will start the construction work in 1-2 months. Both the project will be completed and the foundations will be revealed during the excavation work.”
Sezer expressed that the Mevlevi Lodge is important for Edirne.
Sezer, who said that after the completion of the restoration, the Mevlevi Lodge will serve not only Edirne but also the Balkans, said, “Right next to us is a Mevlevi Lodge in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. There is an institutionalized structure in Edirne, if we can revive this structure, we are thinking of turning it into a center for the Balkans. On the one hand, our whirling dervishes are being trained. Just as Konya is important for Anatolia, we want to make this place as important for the Balkans and transfer our culture, national and spiritual feelings to the Balkans.”
Edirne Mevlevi Lodge
According to historical sources, the wooden Mevlevihane, built by Murat II in the 15th century to the north of the mosque in the Muradiye Mosque Complex, consisted of dervish lodge buildings, a harem room, a sema hall, dede rooms and a library.
In the soup kitchen, where the food needs of the Mevlevi dervishes, students and guests were met, bread was served every day to the houses up to where the shadow of the mosque minaret fell, and on Thursdays, pilaf and zerde were served.
Edirne Mevlevi Lodge served as a primary school for a while in 1925, then it was demolished by the General Inspector of Thrace, General Kazım Dirik.
In the graveyard of the mosque are the graves of the first sheikh of the Mevlevi Lodge, Celalettin Çelebi, the second sheikh, Cemaleddin Çelebi, the sheikhs of the lodge, Mehmet Arif Dede, Osman Dede, Şair Neşati Dede, Seyyid Mahmut Dede, Mehmet Emin Dede, Ali Eşref Dede, and the last sheikh, Süleyman Dede.
