The Mevlevi Lodge Museum, one of the most important historical structures of the Cyprus peninsula, belongs to the Celaliye Foundation, which is among the exceptional foundations. It is thought that Cyprus, which came under the administration of the Ottoman Empire, was brought here by migrants from settlements such as Kula, Konya, Sivas and Karaman starting in 1571.
The center of Mevleviism in Anatolia is Syria, Konya and Aleppo. The Nicosia Mevlevi Lodge is the Mevlevi Lodge of the Cyprus peninsula. Arap Ahmet Pasha Mevlevi Lodge was built in 1593 on the area where the Mevlevi Lodge is located and later the name of this lodge was changed to Ferhat Pasha Mevlevi Lodge. Based on this information, it can be understood that the current Mevlevi Lodge is the continuation of these two lodges mentioned. It is thought that the lodge was built on land given by a palace member named Emine Sultan in the early 12th century and that the uninscribed grave next to the outer walls of the tombs facing northeast belongs to Emine Sultan.
The lodge consisted of sections such as the semahane, dervish rooms, kitchen, guest rooms, and shrine when it was first built, and as of 1873, a total of 36 people, including the mesnevi han, sheikhs, and dervishes, were working in the lodge.
As a result of the closure of the lodges in Turkey on November 30, 1925, the main center of Mevlevi was shifted from Konya to Aleppo, and as of this date, the British Colonial Administration began to bring the sheikhs of the Mevlevi lodges from Aleppo. After the death of Sheikh Şamlı Selim Dede, who was last brought from Aleppo in 1934, on December 9, 1953, Mevleviism on the Cyprus peninsula also became history.
After remaining closed for many years, the lodge was opened on April 30, 1963 under the name of "Cyprus Turkish Ethnography Museum". However, since it was deemed more appropriate to reorganize the museum as a Mevlevi lodge museum, it was restored between 2001-2002 and later reopened on December 7, 2002.
There is a street fountain on the left side of the main entrance door of the Mevlevi Lodge and "Ya Hazreti Mevlana Ketebe" is written on the upper part of the Lodge. In the courtyard entered after the gate, there are gravestones belonging to the historical Kyrenia Gate Cemetery and inscriptions of some structures. The low arched entrance door on the east of the courtyard allows access to the Semahane, where there is a mihrab, a platform where the Sema rituals are performed, a wooden mutrib gallery and a kitchen. The door on the southwest of the Semahane allows access to the tomb section, which extends on an axis along Kyrenia Street and is covered with six domes. There are a total of 16 graves belonging to prominent Mevlevi figures in these tombs. Only six of the tombs with Mevlevi heads have been identified.