View source for Seyyid Ali Sultan Tekke

{{short description|Historical tekke in Roussa, Greece}}
{{Infobox building
| name                = Seyyid Ali Sultan Tekke
| native_name         = Τεκκές Σεγίτ Αλί Σουλτάν
| image               = 20100328_Seyyid_Ali_Sultan_Tekke_Dervish_Lodge_Evros_8.jpg
| image_size          =
| image_caption       = The tekke today
| map_type            = Greece
| map_caption         = Tekke in Greece
| map_size            = 220px
| coordinates         = {{coord|41|17|33|N|25|59|56|E|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| status              = Tekke
| building_type       = [[Khanqah]]
| architectural_style = [[Ottoman architecture]]
| classification      = Protected monument
| address             =
| location_city       = [[Roussa, Evros|Roussa]]
| location_country    = [[Greece]]
| opened_date         = 1402
| renovation_date     = 1759, 2001
| material            = Brick, marble, stone
| developer           = Seyyid Ali Sultan
| website             =
}}
The '''Seyyid Ali Sultan Tekke''' ({{langx|el|Τεκές Σεγίτ Αλή Σουλτάν}}, {{langx|tr|Seyyit Ali Sultan Tekke}}),{{sfn|Lowry|2009|page=22}}<ref name="tsigaras_tekes_segit_ali_soultan">{{Cite web |last=Γεώργιος Τσιγάρας |date=2008-02-26 |title=Τεκκές Σεγίτ Αλή Σουλτάν ή Κιζίλ Ντελή Ρούσσας |url=http://www.ipet.gr/cultureportalweb/print.php?article_id=1092&lang=gr&print_mode=article |access-date=2013-06-19 |publisher=Οδηγός Περιφέρειας Ανατολικής Μακεδονίας-Θράκης}}</ref>{{sfn|Ζεγκίνης|1985|page=179}} also known as the '''Kizil Deli Tekke''',{{sfn|Ζεγκίνης|1985|p=179}}<ref name="mavrommatis_seyyid_ali_sultan">{{Cite journal |last=Giorgos Mavrommatis |year=2008 |title=Bektashis in 20th Century Greece |url=http://poj.peeters-leuven.be/content.php?url=article&id=2037140 |journal=Turcica |volume=40 |pages=242–251 |doi=10.2143/TURC.40.0.2037140}}</ref><ref name="kolovos_tekes_kizil_deli">{{Cite book |last=Ηλίας Κολοβός |url=http://academia.edu/2257601/_Orthodox_Monasteries_and_Dervish_Tekkes_Toward_a_Comparative_Approach_of_their_Economic_and_Political_Role_in_the_Ottoman_Society_ |title=Ορθόδοξα μοναστήρια και δερβίσικοι τεκέδες: προς μια συγκριτική προσέγγιση του οικονομικού και πολιτικού τους ρόλου στην οθωμανική κοινωνία |publisher=Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης |year=2011 |isbn=978-960-524-350-0 |location=Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας Ινστιτούτο Μεσογειακών Σπουδών Ι.Τ.Ε. |pages=236}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Suraiya Faroqhi |year=1976 |title=Agricultural Activities in a Bektashi Center: The Tekke of Kızıl Deli 1750 - 1830 |journal=Südost Forschungen |volume=XXXV |pages=69–96}}</ref>{{sfn|Vallidis|2012|page=245}} or the '''Roussa Tekke''',<ref>[http://www.academia.edu/3111359/Alevi-Bektashi_communities_in_southeastern_Europe_spiritual_heritage_and_environmental_consciousness Alevi-Bektashi communities in southeastern Europe: spiritual heritage and environmental consciousness, Irene Lyratzaki]</ref>{{sfn|Vallidis|2012|pages=6, 29, 132, 158, 163}} or the '''Monastery of Roussa''',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Greece: All time classic, Υπουργείο Τουριστικής Ανάπτυξης, Ελληνικός Οργανισμός Τουρισμού |url=http://www.visitgreece.gr/el/religion/monasteries/roussa_monastery |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140901043238/http://www.visitgreece.gr/el/religion/monasteries/roussa_monastery |archive-date=2014-09-01 |access-date=2013-06-16}}</ref>{{sfn|Vallidis|2012|page= 177}} is a historical Ottoman tekke near the village of [[Roussa, Evros|Roussa]], in the [[Evros (regional unit)|Evros regional unit]] of [[Western Thrace]] in [[Greece]].<ref name="emthrace_latreytikos_kyklos_ekklhsies_monasthria">{{Cite web |title=Λατρευτικός Κύκλος - Εκκλησίες - Μοναστήρια |url=http://www.emthrace.org/%CE%AD%CE%BA%CE%B8%CE%B5%CF%83%CE%B7/%CE%B5%CE%BA%CE%BA%CE%BB%CE%B7%CF%83%CE%AF%CE%B5%CF%82.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924124251/http://www.emthrace.org/%CE%AD%CE%BA%CE%B8%CE%B5%CF%83%CE%B7/%CE%B5%CE%BA%CE%BA%CE%BB%CE%B7%CF%83%CE%AF%CE%B5%CF%82.html |archive-date=2011-09-24 |access-date=2012-07-11 |publisher=Εθνολογικό Μουσείο Θράκης}}</ref> It is an Ottoman [[Alevism|Alevi]] tekke, that is a gathering place for dervishes, especially those belonging to the Bektashi order. Today it has been restored and it is occasionally operational for the local community. It is considered one of the oldest preserved tekkes in the Balkan peninsula,{{sfn|Lowry|2009|page=22}} and a very important center for [[Alevism|Bektashism]].
== Name etymology ==
The founder of the tekke, Seyyid Ali Sultan, was often called "kızıl deli", or ''the red madman'', due to his swift and quick reflexes as a soldier. Another tradition claims that name came about because the tekke he founded stood near the Kızıl Deli river (the [[Erythropotamos]], meaning "red river"), a tributary of the [[Evros river]]. According to another story the river took that name because it was how Seyyid Ali Sultan dubbed it while in life.<ref name="fylladio">{{Cite book |title=Ο Τεκκές του Σεγγήτ Αλή Σουλτάν στο Διδυμότειχο |publisher=Administrative Committee for the Protection of the Seyyid Ali Sultan Waqf |language=Greek}}</ref>
== History and usage ==
A [[Khanqah|tekke]] is a religious building for the members of the [[Bektashi order]] to gather. The particular tekke was built by a [[dervish]] named Seyyid Ali Sultan, after whom it took its name, around 1400-1403 AD. It was Ottoman Sultan [[Bayezid I]] ({{reign|1389|1402}}) who granted the specific site for the tekke, while the restoration date is given by an inscription in [[Ottoman Turkish]], placed in the ''meydan evi'' building of the complex.{{sfn|Lowry|2009|page=22}} The Ottoman inscription reads: "It was rebuilt in 804 <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Hijri year|Hijri]] year, corresponding to 1402/3 AD], it was renovated in 1173 [1759/60 AD] by Dervish Ali after his desire to become a real saint, although his failings are numerous".{{sfn|Ζεγκίνης|1985|page=180}} Before its restoration in the early 200s{{sfn|Lowry|2009|page=22}} the tekke had been used as a stable by the Christian inhabitants, causing major damage to it according to the  complaint by the Union of Minority University Graduates of Western Thrace to the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] (OSCE).<ref name="osce_mosques_in_western_thrace">{{Cite web |date=2009-07-10 |title=Mosques in Western Thrace |url=http://www.osce.org/odihr/38055 |access-date=2012-07-22 |website=Western Thrace Minority University Graduates Association |publisher=Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe |pages=10}}</ref> In the past, access was more difficult until a road was built which leads to the tekke.{{sfn|Lowry|2009|page=23}}
During the Ottoman Empire, the tekkes were used by Turkish settlers as a temporary place of gathering and housing before they were sent to other places. Beginning in late fourteenth century the tekkes in the wider Evros area were used to control and guard the roads, and also enjoyed tax exemptions. The Seyyid Ali Sultan Tekke was used to guard the mountain passage from the Rhodopes to the towns of Soufli and Didymoteicho. Since 2002, the site has been managed and maintained by the "Administrative Committee for the Protection of the Seyyid Ali Sultan Waqf".<ref name="fylladio"/>
== Architecture ==
In the center of the tekke stands a 600-year-old mulberry tree, whose berries according to religious tradition are miraculous. The tradition goes that should someone eat berries from this tree, they would be protected from all diseases and maladies. The same tree also exists in the central meeting place of the Bektashi order, in the village of [[Hacıbektaş]] in central Asia Minor.{{sfn|Lowry|2009|page=24}} The tekke complex buildings are arranged all around the tree; the kitchens, where during the holidays meals are cooked for the multitude of visitors; the konak (guest house), today where the türbedar (the caretaker of the site) lives with his family (Muslim Çolak); a [[türbe]], meaning the burial monument-mausoleum of Seyyid Ali Sultan; the prayer area (meydan evi) and finally recent facilities with shared toilets for visitors. Many dervishes and sheikhs (philosophers) are buried in the cemetery.{{sfn|Lowry|2009|page=25}}
South of the tekke, around one kilometer away, two large cemeteries are found, with tombs dating to the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. A meydan evi is also present, and many inhabitants of the tekke are buried there.{{sfn|Lowry|2009|page=26}}
== Celebrations ==
Today, especially during the period of May till August, the site is visited by the faithful from the neighboring villages. According to George Mauromatis the tekke is visited even by Christians due to curiosity and the realization that Bektashism played a great part during the Ottoman period. Saint George is renevated every year in the tekke, a joint celebration common to Christians and Alevis alike, on May 6 (according to the old calendar), in the presence of, among others, the Metropolitan of Didymoteicho, Orestiada and Soufli. The celebration is accompanied by [[kourbania]] and gatherings.<ref>[http://www.imdos.gr/2012/05/06/ο-άγιος-γεώργιος-για-χριστιανούς-μουσ/ Holy Metropolis of Didymoteicho, Orestias and Soufli. Saint George is for Christians and Muslims both, May 2012.]</ref>
== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|File:20100328_Seyyid_Ali_Sultan_Tekke_Dervish_Lodge_Evros_1.jpg|Kitchens|File:20100328_Seyyid_Ali_Sultan_Tekke_Dervish_Lodge_Evros_4.jpg|Turbe (tomb)|File:20100328_Seyyid_Ali_Sultan_Tekke_Dervish_Lodge_Evros_3.jpg|Turbe of Seyyid Ali Sultan|File:20100328_Seyyid_Ali_Sultan_Tekke_Dervish_Lodge_Evros_7.jpg|Fountain underneath the mulberry tree|title=Buildings of the Tekke|width=190|height=190|align=center}}
== See also ==
{{portal|Greece|Architecture|Islam}}
* [[Hayriyye Madrasa]]
* [[Imaret of Komotini]]
* [[Imaret (Kavala)]]
* [[Clock tower of Xanthi]]
* [[Kütüklü Baba Tekke]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite web |first=Ευστράτιος |last=Ζεγκίνης |year=1985 |title=Ο Μπεκτασισμός στη Δ. Θράκη - Συμβολή στην ιστορία της διαδόσεως του μουσουλμανισμού στον ελλαδικό χώρο (Διδακτορική διατριβή) |url=http://phdtheses.ekt.gr/eadd/handle/10442/0847 |access-date=2012-09-17 |publisher=Αριστοτέλειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλονίκης (ΑΠΘ)}}
* {{Cite book |first = Heath W. | last = Lowry |author-link=Heath W. Lowry |url=http://www.marymartin.com/web/selectedIndex?mEntry=117122 |title=In the Footsteps of the Ottomans: A Search for Sacred Spaces & Architectural Monuments in Northern Greece] |publisher=Mary Martin Booksellers / Bahçesehir University Publications |year=2009 |isbn=9789756437865 |location=Istanbul}}{{Dead link|date=November 2019}}
* {{Cite thesis |first=Stavros | last = Vallidis |url=http://invenio.lib.auth.gr/record/131327/files/GRI-2013-10080.pdf?version=1 |title=Αλληλεπιδράσεις μεταξύ Χριστιανών και Μουσουλμάνων στη Μικρά Ασία την περίοδο της Οθωμανικής Αυτοκρατορίας. Το δερβίσικο τάγμα των Μπεκτασήδων και Κιζιλμπάσιδων. |publisher=Θεολογική Σχολή Αριστοτέλειου Πανεπιστήμιου Θεσσαλονίκης |year=2012 |location=Θεσσαλονίκη |language = Greek}}
== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Seyyid Ali Sultan Tekke}}
[[Category:Ottoman architecture in Western Thrace]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Evros (regional unit)]]
[[Category:Bektashi tekkes]]
[[Category:Tekkes in Greece]]