Hacibektas Museum Nevsehir Turkey – Chapter 1,
Hacibektas Museum was opened in 1964 in the Haci Bektas Dargah kulliye in the Nevsehir sub-province of Hacibektas. The museum consists of three rows of courtyards from west to east. The museum is entered through the Main Gate (Cross Gate) which opens onto the First Courtyard at the west side.
First Courtyard: On the right-hand side of the First Courtyard is a fountain in the style of the Ottoman period called the ‘Three Fountains’. To the left is the old Guest House of the Dargah.
An arched gate called the ‘Triple Gate’ leads into the Second Courtyard.
Second Courtyard: At the entrance to the Second Courtyard is an inscribed rectangular pool. To the right is a nice decorated ‘with rows of arches inside one another, which contains a marble statue of a lion, from Whose mouth issues a fountain.
To the right of this courtyard, also called the Dargah Courtyard, is a two-story row of rooms. These are the Bread House and Kitchen of the Dargah. The room nearest to the gate was originally that of the chef. The second door leads to the pantries and the third to the Kitchen. The stoves, kitchen utensils and Karakazan (a black cauldron considered sacred by the Bektashi order of dervishes) are exhibited in the Kitchen. The rooms on the upper floor are now used as offices and depots. The rooms to the left of the courtyard are called the Hall House. This section was the place where the dervishes performed their ceremonies (called Ayni Cem), and at the entrance is a Hall Stone where they used to place torches. The roof of the Hall Room is domed and raised high on thick joists to symbolize the seven layers of the sky above the earth. The room contains a stove, animal skins on which the sheiks sat and a throne of light, a raised platform on which the dervishes would place candles. The side rooms called the Meydanevi Baba were the guest and store rooms, and are now used to exhibit carpets, embroidered prayer mats, and clothes. The upper floors of the Square House are now used to house the museum library.
You can continue to find more details about the Hacibektas Museum Nevsehir Cappadocia in chapter 2.
