Mevlevi Tekke

Just inside the Kyrenia Gate, on the main street of north Nicosia, stands a low stone building with a row of small domes: the former lodge of the Mevlevi order, the whirling dervishes. The six domes along the front cover tombs holding sixteen uninscribed graves; only five have been identified, among them the founder, the last sheikh Selim Dede and Sheikh Celaleddin Efendi.

According to Ottoman records, the tekke was founded in 1593 by Arab Ahmed Pasha, one of the conquerors of Cyprus, on his own land. By 1607 it had fallen into ruin, and Ferhad Pasha rebuilt it on the old foundations. Another tradition says the land was given by a woman named Emine Hatun from the village of Kyra. The sheikh answered to the order’s centre in Konya, and the Mevlevi lodges of Famagusta, Paphos and Limassol answered to him. In 1873 the tekke had 36 members, and the ceremonies were held on Sundays.

When all tekkes in Turkey were closed in 1925, some Turkish Cypriots demanded that this one close too. The British authorities refused and began bringing sheikhs from Syria: Muhammed Selim Dede of Damascus was appointed in 1933 and served until his death in 1953. No lasting successor was found, the lodge ceased to function in 1954, and on 15 April 1956 the order in Cyprus formally came to an end. The dervish cells, kitchen and guest rooms were then demolished and a shopping arcade built in their place.

What survived is the semahane, the hall for the whirling ceremony, the tombs and a few rooms. A Turkish Cypriot Ethnographic Museum opened here in 1963, and after restoration in 2001–2002 it became a Mevlevi museum. The hall keeps its wooden musicians’ gallery and the railed circle where the dervishes turned, and the courtyard holds gravestones from the nearby cemetery. The same Arab Ahmed Pasha gave his name to the Arab Ahmet Mosque in the western part of the old city.

Opening hours: 1 April – 31 October (2026 summer schedule): Mon–Fri 8:00–15:30, last entry 15:00; closed on weekends and public holidays; winter hours not published (as of October 2026).

The site lies in the northern part of the island, which has not been under the control of the Republic of Cyprus since 1974. It is reached through the official crossing points.