Şeyh Zengi Ali Baba Tomb
About the Person:
- Şeyh Zengi Ali Baba arrived in Istanbul during the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror and founded a zawiya (dervish lodge) near the Mahmud Paşa Complex, as indicated by his waqf deed dated 1486. He is believed to have belonged to the Bektashi–Qalandari tradition.
- Over time, the lodge became a significant spiritual center in Istanbul, especially for the Halveti, Qadiri, and notably the Sa‘di orders. It reached its peak in the 19th century under Sheikh Fethî Efendi and Sheikh Şerafeddin Efendi.
About the Tomb:
Construction Year: 1486, 1854
Ordered by: Şeyh Zengi Ali Baba
Architect: Unknown
Prominent Features:
- Small square-planned structure with rubble stone and brick walls, topped with a hipped roof.
- Inside the tomb are the sarcophagus of Baba Alişah and two graves of dervishes.
- In the tomb garden, there are remnants of a water gauge once belonging to the old lodge.
- Today, the tomb and its courtyard are enclosed within a parking lot, and its surrounding wall and entrance gate bear signs of 19th-century renovations.
- The structure is a rare remnant of transitional periods in Istanbul’s dervish lodge life during the Ottoman era.
