1st April: Mevlana Mausoleum and the road to Cappadocia

After a comfortable night's sleep in Otel Ulusan we walked over to the Mevlana Mausoleum. We paid our entrance fee and collected two audio guides, then sat to enjoy a cup of tea while we listened to the introductory passages about the life, works, and followers of Mevlana. We walked through the rose garden (sadly devoid of roses, perhaps just due to the time of year) and entered the Mevlana monastery through an Ottoman gate. We turned left from the large courtyard and entered the main building, not before sheathing our shoes in blue plastic covers.

Back at the Mevlana Mausoleum

Entrance to the mausoleum

The first room, a small entrance portal, was the reading room, decorated with large inscriptions from the Qu'ran. From there we followed a large number of Turkish visitors through the extraordinary silver door into the echoing hall containing the tomb of Mevlana. No photos allowed, unfortunately, although most of the Turks were snapping away surreptitiously on their mobile phones. We resisted the temptation to follow suit. This website has a photo of Mevlana's tomb.

The hall was beautiful, with the colourfully painted walls inscribed with verses from the Qur'an. Directly beneath the green-tiled dome lay the sarcophagus of Rumi, covered in a shroud embroidered with silver and topped with the distinctive hat of the Celebi, the head of the Mevlana order. The tomb was surrounded by the sarcophagi of subsequent Celebi, each of which was also covered with a shroud and a hat.

In the adjoining hall, also roofed by a graceful dome, was the Semahane. This was the hall where the sema used to be performed, and indeed continues to be performed every year on 17th December, the day on which Mevlana died and was "married to his beloved God". Next door was a small mosque, which contained an exhibition of ancient copies of the Qur'an and other sacred texts; the most impressive was a small 9th century copy of the Qur'an, inscribed on gazelle skin. The three halls were only partially separated, distinct but unified as one holy edifice.

We returned to the courtyard and wandered past several other tombs and through several rooms of the old monastery, each of which contained some explanation of how the order lived. We then made our way back to Mevlana Caddesi, the main road running through the centre of the old town, headed west towards Alaeddin Tepesi. We stopped off on the way to buy some lunch, which we ate while seated on a bench in the shaded park on the top of Alaeddin hill. Nearby was an impressive 12th century mosque, the Alaeddin Mosque.

A mosque on the way to Alaeddin Tepesi

Alaeddin Mosque

Another side of Alaeddin Mosque

Mevlana Mausoleum at the other end of Mevlana Caddesi from Alaeddin Tepesi

We returned to Otel Ulusan to collect our rucksacks, then caught the tram out to the otogar. The bus was not quite as flashy as the one we had taken from Antalya, but the three-hour ride to Cappadocia was comfortable enough. The road led us east across the arid Anatolian plain, with the view enlivened for the last hour or so by the sight of snow-covered mountains off to the south. After the penultimate stop, Nevsehir, we entered the magical scenery of Cappadocia. A proper description will have to wait for the next few posts. We arrived at Goreme otogar at around 7 p.m. and made our way five minutes up the hill to Caravanerai Hotel, where we were shown to our charming and very warm room. After a quick session planning what to do over the coming days, it was time for dinner and bed.

Snow-covered mountains (volcanoes, I think) on the way to Cappadocia