Did the Virgin Mary Live in Turkey? Exploring the Mystery of Meryem Ana Evi

Artist Simon Blackwood discusses and displays some of the places he painted during his trips to Turkey in the 1970s.

Artist Simon Blackwood talks about his trips to Turkey with the Beshara School in the 1970s and shows some of his paintings.

Artist Simon Blackwood remembers visiting the home of the Virgin Mary, where it is thought that she departed in the peaceful mountains above the Roman city of Ephesus on the West Coast. The piece also recalls Simon’s initial visits to the house during the ‘Turkey trips’ of the 1970s. Students from Beshara School went on these yearly exploration trips, which culminated in Konya with Jalaluddin Rumi’s “Nuptial Night” celebrations. The trips included stops at some of the most revered spiritual figures in Ottoman history. At the end, we present some of Simon’s paintings inspired by the places he mentions.

Meryam Anna Evi (Mary’s House) is situated near Ephesus in South-western Turkey, close to Seljuk and Izmir. Tiny stone house on Mount Koressos, also called Bulbuldag in Turkish, which means “Mount of the Nightingales,” is located in a secluded area of the mountain. When I went there once in the summer, the heat on the dry soil and stones seemed to convect the rich aroma of budding fig leaves and the well-being of the scorched olive branches, which was similar to camphor. A word came to mind – tranquility. Mary always represents this quality to me, where the only lack, if there is one, is of tension.

The house was discovered in the 19th century after a series of revelations to Catholic nun Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774–1824), who had never traveled to Turkey. Her secretary Clemens Brentano wrote a book, The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which was published in 1833 and contained accounts of her visions (1). This eventually led to the discovery of the house in 1881 by Abbé Julien Gouyet, a French priest. According to the narrative, Mary was taken to Ephesus by St. John, who had been given custody of her by Jesus on the cross (2). She lived out her final years in this serene location. The veracity of the website has been hotly contested, particularly in light of the numerous stories that emerged from Brentano’s account that later proved to be highly embellished. Despite two papal visits from Popes Benedict XVI and John Paul II, the Catholic Church has never formally recognized the location.

Still, Meryam Anna Evi has developed into a Christian and Muslim pilgrimage site, and we visited there in honor of Mary. Muslims visit that place because Mary is considered the mother of the prophet Jesus in Islam and is one of the three women mentioned by name in the Qur’an. She even has a chapter named after her. The present home in no way reflects the era in which Mary would have spent her last days. But a small “baptismal” pool close by dates to the Apostolic era, suggesting that an early Christian community may have lived here to evade Roman persecution. Recent carbon dating suggests that the original site may have existed at the time Mary and John would have lived. But in all the forty-five years I have spent at the house, I have never even given the minute details of “proof” of age or authenticity any thought. When you choose to accept a presence, you somehow become a part of its reality, and in this instance, Mary’s compassion is obvious.

(For m. I first went to the house as part of a tour conducted in the 1970s by the newly founded Beshara School of Intensive Esoteric Education. Every year in December from 1975 to 2016, the students would leave for their yearly “Turkey Trip,” which signified the halfway point of their six-month residential program. After the Beatles, the events of 1968, and other factors, a new youth movement emerged, and seemingly out of nowhere, a spiritual hotbed of teachers from the East, Middle East, and Near East had arrived in the West, urging us onward to a bright future. These courses were intended to be a period of exploring “the true meaning of life” and “why are we here?”

A portion of the journey was inspired by the Beshara students’ introduction to the great spiritual masters of the Turkish tradition. In addition to studies in Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism, works by learned authors such as the Arabic philosopher Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabi and the Persian poet and mystic Jalaluddin Rumi were just beginning to be made available for study in English translation. (For more on these and current Beshara courses, see the Beshara Trust website. One of the goals was to put the lessons in a physical context, made possible by Bulent Rauf, who advised the Beshara Trust until his death in 1987. The voyage was scheduled to begin on December 17, 1273CE, the day of Rumi’s death, which coincides with Konya’s “Semā.”

Ali Muhammad Bulent Rauf, an archaeologist, belonged to the Turkish dynasty that ruled during the final Ottoman Sultans. He was able to make connections between Sufi traditions and the changing course of human life because that culturally rich country is home to a large number of ancient Greek and Roman archaeological sites. The trip eventually covered a wide range of topics related to Anatolian history and archaeology, including the ruins of the monastery in Iznik, where the Nicene Creed was developed, the well-known Graeco-Roman cities of Miletus, Pergamon, and Ephesus on the western coast, and the incredible houses at Göreme in Cappadocia. It matured into a real voyage of discovery for all who were able to take part. At the start of the trip, there were so many of us—120 people, in fact—that three coaches were required to carry us the roughly 2000 miles.

Istanbul: view over the Rustem Pasha mosque to Eminonu harbour, where ferries leave for the Asian side. Photograph: Ayhan Altun [/] / Alamy Stock Photo.

A few nights in Istanbul and a stay at the Pera Palace Hotel in Pera—back when it was still reasonably priced and easily accessible before renovations—rounded out the packed itinerary. There, the students made the first of many trips to see Turkish saints who shaped the Sufi tradition. These people were revered for their devotion and humility, and their writings and commentary often added to the body of knowledge at the time. These men were also very important to the communities in which they had lived and worked. The mosque and the local tekke, which was built around a shaykh and provided a place of learning for devotees to learn to read and write as well as to become emotionally invested in the primary texts through memorization and repetition, sometimes beginning at a young age, were the only formal educational institutions in existence prior to the 20th century. Anyone entering the Sufi tekkes, regardless of their nationality or creed, was provided security, direction, and advice, as is the case with many monastic traditions.

Vapur, Istanbul’s ferry boats, which were first built in Glasgow, made the first trip from Eminonu to the Asian side of the Bosphorus and the “village” of Uskudar. The tomb of Aziz Mahmud Hudayi Efendi (1541-1628), also known as the Sun of the Jelveti Sufi Order and a spiritual counselor to eight Ottoman Sultans, is perched on the hillside above the jetty. It is dedicated by Bulent Rauf’s grandmother and has an exquisite glass and wrought iron entry porch and vestibule from which one can view the entirety of the saint’s sphere of influence during his lifetime.

Nowadays, Turkey’s saints’ tombs are packed with tourists, but as part of his modernization drive in the middle of the 20th century, Kemal Ataturk banned dervish orders. So these shrines were only allowed to continue ‘as if’ they were museums. As a result, they were frequently closed. We had to locate the nearby mosque’s muezzin in order to gain entry, and they would then track down the key holder. After Hudayi, a dervish order with a fine kitchen appeared, where food was customarily given locally for the poor and destitute. It would take several more years before this was restored, even after the prohibition was lifted toward the end of the century and both tourists and local enthusiasts began visiting the museums again. Amidst all of this, infrequent tomb visitors received sugar lumps, symbolizing the saint’s sweetness.

After a short stopover in Istanbul, the route continued through some of the most productive vegetable-growing regions along the Aegean Coast until arriving in Bursa, the capital of the Ottoman Empire prior to the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. This remained an important centre of spirituality until the 20th century. Known for its “Iron Baths,” which were heated by springs that flowed through the larval heating beneath Mount Uludag (Big Mountain), we stayed at the luxurious Celik Palas Otel. The hotel was enormously long and winding. The dressing gowns were luxurious cotton towelling. Everyone was invited to warm up and wash in the gorgeous domed pool before enjoying cool ayran (milk and yogurt with a hint of salt) in the hamam. Little star-shaped windows in the ceiling let light stream through, creating a magical and incredibly romantic Ottoman atmosphere.

Bursa’s students had the chance to see some of the most illustrious figures from the Ottoman Sufi tradition, beginning with Hudayi’s teacher, Hazreti Uftade (1490–1580), whose tomb faces the Great Mosque. Plus, if they wanted to, they could make their way through the tiny lanes to his house and retreat cell higher up the mountain. His ancestors kept residing in and tending to the ancient wooden structure until it burned down and was rebuilt.

Interior of the Great Mosque in Bursa, built by the Ottoman Sultan Beyazid 1 in 1369–99. Bursa was the capital of the Ottoman Empire before the conquest of Istanbul. Photograph: alvita/iStock.

There were also tours of the town center’s highly decorated Green Mosque and Jelveti shaykh, Ishmael Hakki Bursevi (1652–1725). Lunch was then served at Iskender Lokantasi, which is well-known for the Kebab that its founder invented. This is served with freshly baked pide bread, a generous amount of tomatoes and onions cooked in olive oil from the area, and a delicious, unprocessed, creamy yoghurt on top. This was close to the Silk Bazaar. After that, the students were free to enjoy all that Bursa had to offer in those glorious days before mass tourism and air pollution, including delights like kelims and fabulous fabrics, as well as black and white mulberries, which were then entirely unknown to Western visitors.

When traveling from Bursa to Ismir, make a stop for lunch at the Ayvalik historic harbor on the west coast, which offers views of the Aegean Sea. This Photograph: Leks Agency [/] / Alamy Stock Photo.

The West Coast Cities and Ephesus.

After that, we drove for four or five hours more to Ayvalik, which is historically known for having the best olives. It was here that the course kitchen would frequently replenish its supplies with bags of freshly harvested fruit and olive oil. The town is on the west coast, facing the Aegean, and features some simple lokantasi on the waterfront. Sometimes, during the off-season, a large influx of desperate Westerners would suddenly arrive, stretching the resources of restaurant owners to the limit. However, they consistently provided deliciously simple and fresh food to meet the demand, exhibiting the customary Turkish hospitality and inventiveness. No one goes without food in Turkey.

After that, visit the nearby ancient site of Pergamon, which in the first century BCE boasted the second-largest library after Alexandria. The Asklepion, the first mental hospital, is still accessible for tours. It was an ancient healing complex with radioactively revealed mineral springs. There are atmospheric subterranean stone tunnels that are periodically broken by holes in the stonework overhead. While these patients slept, doctors took care of them, listening to their stories of dreams and probably offering advice about their own plans as well. This is where the famous Roman physician Galen (130–210 CE) was born and educated. His theories influenced European medicine for 1500 years.

The Asklepion, or healing centre, at Pergamon, Turkey, dating from at least the first century CE. Apart from medical care, there were mental health facilities with an amphitheater where tragedies were performed to encourage catharsis. Photograph: tunart/iStock.

Following that, we drove to Seljuk the next day and stayed the night there, visiting Ephesus, an ancient city, and Meryam Anna Evi. Seljuk in the 1970s was a tiny village with one taxi driver and one, very basic, hotel. The taxi driver once regaled us with stories about how some Germans and Americans had come the year before and had smuggled away pieces of sarcophagi from Ephesus in order to avoid having to pay customs duty. Ephesus was a ruin for centuries and had last been excavated by Austrian archaeologists in the 1950s. Since then, the Turks have been gradually touristifying it, with inventive restoration efforts if not exact restorations. But in the 1970s, it had a certain air, the openness of time’s ravages, inspiring admiration in the minds of tourists and archaeologists for its beauty.

However, because Mary’s House functioned as a focal point for the trip in some ways, the students always went there first. The Aramaic word beshara, which means “good news” or “omen of joy,” is related to the Annunciation, when Mary was given the spirit by Angel Gabriel, in both the Hebrew Bible and the Qur’an. From a meaning standpoint, she represents the completely unobstructed area where wisdom can arise and the fruit of the spirit’s labor can be seen. She is Universal Nature, the materia prima on which knowledge is revealed.

Other venerated female figures were also visible to us in the nearby museum, including the famous Greek goddess Artemis and the Basilica of St. John the Evangelist, the author of Revelations. Although it was long held that he was the Apostle who had also cared for Mary, most contemporary scholars now concur that they are not the same person.

The statue of Mary amongst the olive groves in the grounds of her house. Photograph: MyerV/iStock

After Seljuk, the way turned inland, cross-country to Konya. Even though the coach rides were long and exhausting due to the distances between the destinations, they gave the students, for whom this was a field trip rather than a vacation, a little break because they were filled with an air of adventure and/or dread. The Blue Guide (3) provided readings about the various sites that would be visited along the way, but these eventually evolved from the knowledge gained by some of the regular participants who became familiar with Near Eastern mythology, Greek history, archaeology, and folklore.

Additionally, there was guidance regarding the journey’s spiritual significance. For example, students discovered the following phrases in the notes on Rumi:

It cannot be said that one goes to the tomb of a dead person. There is no death for the man who has realised union. He ‘died’ before death, and it is to his living presence that this journey is made.

And the tale of a man who visited Konya annually to celebrate the night of the nuptials:

In response to someone saying, “You come every year, you must love Rumi very much,” the man said that he didn’t love Rumi in the traditional sense, but rather that which Rumi loved, and that which he loves, loves Rumi. ” .

As per Rumi’s requests, the trip in Konya always started at the grave of Sadruddin Konevi, who was a close friend of Rumi’s and the spiritual heir of Ibn ʿArabi. Next, the tomb of Shamsi Tabriz was visited, and finally the mausoleum of Mevlana himself. At each location, respect was paid to the person’s knowledge, teachings, and dynasty. In the evening of the 17th December we attended the sema – the ‘turning’ of the Mevlevi dervishes. Semaʾ means listening – hearing – and the ‘performance’ is dhikr – remembrance of God. It is a beautiful action of self-awareness, adoration and praise. (For more on this, see the video Turning, made by Diane Cilento with Bulent Rauf, right or below. ).

Video: Turning. Duration: 47:29

The Sema’, the ceremony of the Mevlevi dervishes in Konya, which for many years was only permitted for three days in December around the anniversary of Rumi’s death. Photograph: Serdar Başak [/] / Alamy Stock Photo

Held in the basketball arena designated for the “illegal” Sufi ceremony that could not be held in the Mevlevi Tekke, the performance was only allowed to take place for three days in December, but the government officials and politicians took full advantage of the occasion, paying endless tributes to Rumi, who is undoubtedly a giant among men. But the “place” and the significance of going to a location where a great spirit may or may not have lived are mysterious. While meaning itself needs context to understand what gives things life and spirit, context is necessary for meaning in order to place something within the space-time continuum. This understanding is possible only through the mercy that is life’s gift, free from all limitations.

House of the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus-Turkey