The Sheh Danjolli tekke and Gjakova's other Sufi lodges

Gjakova shows something few towns in Kosovo display so openly, the mark of the Sufi orders. Their lodges, the tekkes, are scattered round the centre, and the Culture Ministry’s heritage database protects four of them. The best known is Sheh Danjolli’s, and to my eye the most photogenic.

What it is and when it was built

The Sheh Danjolli tekke (Teqeja e Sheh Danjollit) stands on the main road into Gjakova from Peja. Its DTK record says Sheh Danjolli himself built it in the 19th century, which is why it still bears his name, and that it belongs to the Rifa’i order. It has been under permanent protection since 15 May 1978.

According to the same record, the complex has three parts. The main hall, the samahane, where the dervishes hold their ceremonies; a mausoleum (tyrbe) with the graves of notable local people; and the lodge’s own rooms.

The painted hall

What interests me most is inside. The samahane is square in plan and decorated with wall paintings, geometric figures and Koranic quotations that the DTK dates to the period of construction. The load-bearing walls rest on an arch and were built of fired brick, adobe and lime mortar; the roof is traditional tile.

No official source publishes opening times or rules. It is a working religious site, so my advice is what I would do myself. Look from outside, ask respectfully if you would like to step in, and do not press the point.

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How a tekke works

The DTK records help explain each part. The samahane is where the dervishes hold the zikr, the ceremony of recitation, and where they gather; the mausoleum holds the tombs of the sheikhs and notable members of the community; and the rest of the building houses the lodge itself. For Sheh Emin’s, the record also mentions a timber dome over the hall and decorated walls and ceilings.

It is not only a Gjakova phenomenon. In Rahovec, on the east side of the region, the DTK protects the large Halveti tekke of 1732, with its library of manuscripts, and the Melami tekke of 1887.

Gjakova’s other tekkes

The DTK protects three more in town. Sheh Emin’s, 18th century and of the Sadi order, is in the Kryepazar, the upper part of the Gjakova Grand Bazaar; its founder, Sheh Emin, had been a kadi (a judge) educated in Turkey, according to its record, and it still works as a tekke. Babe Ali’s and Shejh Ban’s are 19th century, under provisional protection. OpenStreetMap marks further lodges of this kind around town.

If you are interested in Kosovo’s Islamic heritage as a whole, starting with the Hadum Mosque, I go through it in mosques in Kosovo. For a British visitor, the closest comparison I can offer is a chapter house rather than a church, a place for a community’s own gatherings.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Sheh Danjolli tekke on GetYourGuide.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Gjakova for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.