The Twin Sultanas' Tomb, Sümbül Efendi Mosque

Istanbul · Turkiet · Cemetery

Two sisters rest beneath the chained cypress — and the sheikh who kept the tree is said to have spoken with the dead in its shade.

In the courtyard of Sümbül Efendi's mosque in Kocamustafapaşa — a Byzantine monastery before it became a dervish lodge — stands the stump of a cypress hung with chains. Beneath the tree, tradition says, lie two graves, the Çifte Sultanlar or Twin Sultanas: two sisters held to be daughters of Husayn, grandson of the Prophet, brought here after the battle of Karbala. Sultan Mahmud II had a bronze grille set over the graves. Of the cypress itself it is told that Sümbül Efendi sat in its shade and there held converse with the Prophet's spirit. When the branches dried, chains were wrapped around them so they would not fall on those praying below — chains to which local talk soon gave a very different explanation. The chain was moved to a museum, but the stump remains.

FAQ

Hvor ligger The Twin Sultanas' Tomb, Sümbül Efendi Mosque?

The Twin Sultanas' Tomb, Sümbül Efendi Mosque ligger i Istanbul, Turkiet.