The Whirling Dervishes of Konya

Konya is the city of Rumi - Mevlana, the 13th-century Sufi poet whose followers founded the Mevlevi order after his death here in 1273 - and the home of the sema, the whirling ceremony the world knows and mostly misunderstands. The sema is worship, not performance: robed semazens rotate on the left foot, right palm open to heaven and left turned to earth, in a precisely ordered ritual of music, chant and turning that UNESCO inscribed on its intangible heritage list in 2008. Konya keeps the tradition closest to its source - regular ceremonies at the Mevlana Cultural Centre, and each December the Seb-i Arus commemorations of Rumi's death, his 'wedding night' with the divine, draw pilgrims in the tens of thousands. The Mevlana Museum, beneath its fluted turquoise dome, holds the poet's tomb and the order's relics.

What you actually see

• The sema ceremony - the turning ritual performed in its home city.
• The Mevlana Museum - Rumi's tomb beneath the turquoise-tiled dome.
• Seb-i Arus - December's commemoration filling the city with pilgrims.
• The order's relics - manuscripts, instruments and dervish cells around the shrine.

When to go

Ceremonies run regularly year-round in Konya - check current schedules on arrival. The Seb-i Arus season in mid-December is the tradition at full intensity, and accommodation books out well ahead.

Honest expectations

Treat it as worship: no applause, no flash, phones down, and arrive early for seats. Tourist-restaurant versions elsewhere are abbreviated shows - Konya's ceremony is the real form. Konya is a conservative city; dress modestly at the shrine and expect alcohol to be scarce.

Nearby

Alaeddin Hill, the Karatay tile museum and the neolithic mound of Catalhoyuk south of the city.