This morning we went to the Mevlana Museum, home of the Whirling Dervishes. The Mevlavi dervish sect of Islam was founded by Rumi, a poet and mystic. The museum contains Rumi's tomb, the ceremonial hall, the cells of the dervishes, and tons of memorabilia and mementos. Each cell can be entered and contains robes, musical instruments, writings, mannikins, and etc. There are also plaques with more information about the Mevlavi: it's part of Sufi Islam and the whirling dervishes express God's love to the people. When one first enters the monastery, one must endure 1001 days of suffering. After this, they become a novice and go into training. When entering the musuem itself, we had to put plastic bags over our shoes. The museum was in very good condition. One room of the musuem contained copies of the Qur'an--one had been written with a strand of hair and was about as big as a ring box!!
After the museum, we entered a felt shop and saw the making of felt from wool. Some of us purchased some felt objects (a tie and scarves) and then we went to Lystra, which, like Colossae, is unexcavated and is just a green mound called a tel. We took some quick pictures and then left.
After a lunch stop, the rest of the afternoon was taken up by driving to Cappadocia (with a quick stop along the way). Our hotel, while located in the middle of nowhere, is called the Cave Hotel and is one of the most unique and awesome hotels any of us has ever been in. Our rooms look as if they were carved out of the rocks themselves and one room even has heated floors!
After dinner (lentil soup and chicken), our evening concluded with an impromptu snowball fight in the small courtyard outside our rooms. Tomorrow we head to an open-air musuem and an undergound city.
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