Erikli Baba Tomb
About the Person:
- Erikli Baba’s real identity has not been clarified historically. According to the rumors, his real name is Seyyid Muhammed Saineddin or Seyyid Muhammed Eryek, and he is one of the Khorasan saints who came to Anatolia during the reign of Orhan Gazi.
- It is accepted that he participated in the Ottoman-Byzantine war in Maltepe and provided moral and logistical support to the Janissaries during the conquest of Istanbul. He was known as “Erikli (Plum) Baba” because he provided plums in the winter.
- He is also considered one of the first successors of Hacı Bektaş Veli. The tomb attributed to him is an important place of visit today.
About the Tomb:
Construction Year: 14th or 15th century
Ordered by: Unknown
Architect: Unknown
Prominent Features:
- The tomb is located in the front courtyard of the lodge, within a simple marble fence.
- The grave of Erikli Baba is the only grave in the lodge without a name inscription.
- The tomb building was built in the appearance of a traditional wooden Ottoman mansion and is integrated with the dervish lodge.
- Inside the tomb, there are several more graves belonging to people who served as postnişin (the head of a Sufi lodge).
- In 1993, the lodge was revived and turned into a multifunctional cultural area containing a soup kitchen, library, washing house, slaughterhouse and cem hall.
- The tomb and dervish lodge is an important center in the Alevi-Bektashi tradition and serves the community with sacrifice, cem, semah and various cultural activities.
