Mevlana Museum

The Mevlana Dervish Lodge stands where the Seljuk palace's rose garden once lay; Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad gave it to Bahaeddin Veled, father of Mevlana. The core of the complex is Mevlana's tomb, built in 1274. Around it stand the Semahane, where the Sema ceremony was performed, a small mosque, the cells of the dedes, a kitchen and a shadirvan fountain, all of the 16th century.

Rumi's philosophy of self-knowledge and love has influenced people around the world for centuries, and UNESCO declared 2007 the Year of Mevlana. After dervish lodges were closed in Turkey, the Mevlevi lodge was preserved for its importance to Turkish and Islamic culture and reorganised as a museum.

Its most striking sight is the tomb of Rumi beneath the Green Dome (Kubbe-i Hadra). Also on show are dervish objects, precious manuscripts, an eight-string violin regarded as a forerunner of the modern violin, patience stones, and a celestial globe used to teach astronomy.