Hacıbektaş

Hacıbektaş grew around the resting place of Hacı Bektaş Veli, the thirteenth-century mystic whose teaching inspired the Bektashi order. The village was once called Sulucakarahöyük. His tomb and the adjoining dervish lodge became an important spiritual centre attracting followers from across Anatolia and the Balkans, while courtyards, kitchens and guest rooms grew around the shrine.

Under the Ottomans the lodge stood at the head of a far-reaching network of Bektashi religious foundations. Balım Sultan, who became its leader in 1501, is associated with the organisation of the order. In 1826 Sultan Mahmud II abolished the Janissaries and suppressed Bektashi lodges. The central lodge was placed under a Naqshbandi sheikh, though Hacı Bektaş's tomb remained an enduring focus of devotion for his followers.