Stanislaw Warwas

Poland - 08-Jan-24 -

Visited November 2023

I do not even know what to write about this site… And I do not wonder that till now no reviews of this site.

Kırshehir, where in the real centre of the city the small complex with the tomb of Ahi Evran is located – but we are not sure if this is the exact place and the exact tomb belonging to him – can be easily visited while traveling between Ankara and Cappadocia. (There’s also another tWHS in the city, one of the Seljuk madrassas.) The tombs itself is nothing special and the mosque where it is located shows no any unique features for a non-Turkish traveller. Its T shape as a uniqueness does not convince me…

The real name of Ahi Evran was a bit longer: Sheikh Pir Nasiruddin Abul Hakayik Pir Mahmud bin Ahmed Ahi Evran bin Abbas Veli al-Khoyi. And this potential inscription is rather about him, and not about the place/tomb/mosque. He came from Western Azerbaijan province in present day Iran, he was a Turkic sufi who travelled all around Anatolia and Iraq. He created and organized kind of a guild brotherhood of more than 30 professions – ahilik that had a big influence on social, moral and religious life of the craftsmen belonging to ahilik, but also on townscaping (Mudurnu). Very close to the mosque the Turkish government built a very big museum (no entrance fee) where you can learn about ahi brotherhood and Ahi Evran himself. And the site is really promoted at least among Turkish people cos when I was there five buses with local tourists or pilgrims were parked just outside the premises.

I understand that Türkiye wants to show and inform about its Turkish or Turkic or pan-Turkic heritage. But is it the right way to do that? To put everything into tentative list?