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As you may know, dervish lodges, madrasas and similar institutions and their rituals were outlawed during Ataturk's secularization campaign but the current AKP government has softened the rules, allowing for institutions like Yenikapi to reemerge. It was completely restored a few years ago and is quite beautiful. And more importantly it regularly host a whirling dervish ceremony, a sema, a sufi whirling .  An authentic Dervish experience in Istanbul Dervish Ceremony in Istanbul So if you seek out the real thing, you should attend one of the dervish ceremonies held by the Mevlevi Sufi Lodge at the Fatih Sultan Mehmet University Istanbul. That one is not a dervish ceremony which is put on for tourists in various location around the sightseeing spots, but the real thing, a real authentic ceremony by a real Mevlevihane (Mevlevi Sufi Lodge).  The Sema Dervish Ritual is normally held every two weeks on wednesdays, the actual dates can be found in the calendar of performance...