It's hard to believe that this walled garden compound has preserved its centuries-old sense of peace and tranquility, given that today it finds itself right in the throbbing heart of Istanbul's entertainment quarter—especially as it's set just off a street known for the ranks of music shops lining it, where wannabe drummers test-crash Istanbul-made cymbals. (Zildjian, the famed American-Armenian cymbal manufacturer, started out in Istanbul way back in 1618). In fact, this same street is named after the Muslim sufi mystic who founded the dervish lodge here in the 16th century. Today the lodge, or tekke, is a museum, as the dervish (a kind of Muslim monk) orders were banned as reactionary by arch-secularist Atatürk ın the 1920s and are technically still illegal to this day. The Mevlevi dervishes are best known in the west for their "whirling" dance ceremonies (which still take place here on an irregular basis—check the boards outside the museum for notice of when they'll be held, which is often on Sundays) by which dancers hope to achieve union with god. The former lodge is now a museum, renovated in 2012, with a fine display of dervish accoutrements, from begging bowls to felt hats and musical instruments to calligraphy pens. Upstairs is the center-piece of the museum, the semahane or dance floor, beautifully kept. The order's 13th-century founder, Mevlana, was renowned for his tolerance, welcoming all faiths to pray and permitting alcohol.