The Hodjapasha Culture Center is housed in a former 15th-century hammam in Istanbul, Turkey. It hosts whirling dervish ceremonies, as well as other events such as the dance show "Rhythm of the Dance".
The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya (Turkish: Mevlevilik; Persian: طریقت مولویه) is a Sufi order that originated in Konya, Turkey (formerly capital of the Sultanate of Rum) and which was founded by the followers of Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, Sufi mystic, and theologian. The Mevlevis are also known as the "whirling dervishes" due to their famous practice of whirling while performing dhikr (remembrance of God). Dervish is a common term for an initiate of the Sufi path; whirling is part of the formal sema ceremony and the participants are properly known as semazens.
In 2005, UNESCO confirmed "The Mevlevi Sema Ceremony" as amongst the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.