The Zall Tekke ( sq, Teqeja e Zallit) or Asim Baba Tekke ( tr, Âsım Baba Tekkesi) is a Bektashi teqe in

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea le ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. It is a Cultural Monument of Albania.

History

Seyyid Muhammed Asim Baba of Üsküdar (

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

) founded the tekke in 1780. It is also known as the ''Teqeja e Zallit'' (Gravel Tekke) or as the "Tekke of Pebbles" due to its location at the side of a river bed that is usually dry. The tekke was administered by the following babas. *Asim Baba from 1780 to 1796 *Hasan Baba Turku from 1796 to 1798 *Sulejman Baba of Gjirokastra from 1798 to 1806 *Ali Baba Gega from 1806 to 1830 *Haxhi Jahja Baba of Kruja from 1830 to 1836 *Ibrahim Baba Turku from 1836 to 1846 *Hysejn Baba Elbasani from 1845 to 1861 *Ali Haqi Baba of Elbasan from 1861 to 1907 *Selim Ruhi Baba of Elbasan from 1907 to 1944 The tekke also hosted a library with books and manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and later also Albanian. For 3 years during the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

and also during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Greek soldiers were stationed at the tekke, which did not have any babas and dervishes at the time due to the wars. The baba and dervishes later returned, and the tekke was restored in 1916.

References

{{coord, 40.0671, N, 20.1492, E, source:wikidata, display=title Cultural Monuments of Albania Buildings and structures in Gjirokastër Ottoman architecture in Albania Sufi tekkes in Albania Bektashi tekkes Ottoman mausoleums