Galata Mevlevihanesi Museum

We wanted to learn more about the derviches with this museum but infortunately the three small rooms without any translated informations didn't really help us, so we were a bit disappointed, even though the ticket was included in the museum pass, it was disappointing at best. Once the renovation will be over, I hope it will be accessible and more detailled.

Super small, most of the areas are closed and there is no performance. Skip it unless there is new information. Worth about 5 minutes if you have free ticket with museum pass.

Galata Mevlevi House is the first Mevlevi House in Istanbul going back to the late 15th century. The museum is on one floor and is very small with very few items on display. We also weren’t allowed to go inside the two enclosed tombs on the property.

Incredibly quiet place with a beautiful garden. The museum itself is interesting and helps visitors to understand how dervishes were living during the Ottoman era. This is a spiritual place and well organized museum. We enjoyed our visit.

Interesting museum for anybody who wants information and history about the whirling dervish people. It wasn't at all busy so I felt I had the place to myself most of the time. Interesting house, cemetery and great hall and peaceful garden to sit in to switch off from the hustle and bustle of the area outside.

It isn’t worth the visit at all. The second floor, where most of the museum artifacts and the history of sufism used to be showcased, is closed. The only open areas are the dancing floor view and a couple of small rooms with information in Turkish only. It was a waste of time and money.

They no longer perform the Sufi dance at the museum. I was there today, following the information on the website, but they said the information is outdated. The guard recommended going to the Hodjapasha Culture Centre for the Dervish experience.

I had hoped for an introduction into sufism in Istanbul... but there is not much here. The internet says that you can get tickets here for a spiritual dervish dance, but according to the guy at the ticket booth, that doesn't happen.

If you want a unique cultural experience, buy tickets to see the Whirling Dervishes perform at the Galata Lodge. It's a historic building that puts on performances every day. Go early so you actually get a seat with a good view. The performance lasts more than an hour and it's interesting, but if you have a hard time sitting still like me, you'll get tired of it after ten minutes. Pro tip: If you are bored of this performance, try to pick one guy and focus on them to see if they make any funny facial expressions as they whirl around.