Thousands of small pieces of colorful clothes hanging on trees... This is the first thing you will see when you come to Demir Baba Teke. Faith and mysticism intertwine in this quaint place. It is located in the historical-archaeological reserve Soboryanovo, near the village of Sveshtari. According to legends, the pieces of cloth remain because this is how the disease is tied up and a person is freed from it.

Broadly speaking, a tekke is a Muslim ritual complex of buildings. In the tekke near the village of Sveshtari is the tomb of the Alian healer Demir Baba. The building has seven corners and has a square vestibule. On its top rises a hemispherical dome, 11 meters high. Demir Babas grave is always filled with gifts from the people who came here to seek salvation, healing and hope.

In the past, in the place where the tekke is located, there was an ancient sanctuary of the Thracian tribe Geti. Later, a small Christian church was built. In the 16th century, the Alian tekke was built, which continues to attract both believers and curious tourists. The very intertwining of so many religions and beliefs, in this very place, proves that it is extraordinary!

Demir Baba was not only a healer, but also a spirit guide. Literally translated, his name means Iron Father. He is revered by the Alians, also known as Alevis. They follow a current in Islam, according to which a person can personally communicate with God, therefore they do not visit mosques. Alevis do not follow the traditional rituals of Islam. With them, women are equal to men. They venerate the tombs of their saints.

Although he is extremely respected by the Alevis, during his lifetime Demir Baba helped anyone who asked him for help, regardless of religion. After his death, he was buried in this place, around which a whole complex was formed. It also had a mosque, destroyed in the middle of the 19th century, a small museum and a healing spring, which have been preserved to this day.

The Demir Baba Museum is housed in the wooden house opposite the tomb. In it you can find out more about the life and work of the healer.

According to legend, the healing spring appeared during a very dry year. Then Demir Baba reached into a rock and water flowed from it. The spring is located in the courtyard of the tekke. It was named Besh Parmak, which means Five Fingers. There is a belief that whoever wants to be cured of an illness or to have his innermost wish come true, must drink three times from this water and wash himself three times with it.

Many people come to Demir Baba Teke to seek healing and hope. On the left outer wall of the tomb is a sacred stone. You lie down on it with your head down, and then you have to stand up without helping yourself with your hands. This ritual is done for health. You can simply lie down and feel the energy of the stone.

Another interesting ritual is poking out the witchs eyes. It is performed against a stone with two holes placed next to each other. You have to get a few feet away from it and then hit the holes with your index fingers. The trick is that you have to do this with your eyes closed. If you succeed, you will be freed from evil…or so the superstition goes.

Demir Baba Teke is a 16th-century Alevi mausoleum near the village of Sveshtari, Isperih municipality, Razgrad Province in northeastern Bulgaria. As part of the Sboryanovo historical and archaeological reserve, Demir Baba Teke is one of the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria.

Bulgarians are mainly Orthodox Christians, with the second largest religion in the country being Islam. However in some particular religious sites, everyone is welcome regardless of their beliefs. Demir Baba Teke is one of these places, and has been considered holy for more than 3,000 years.

Demir Baba Teke is a mausoleum, located at Razgrad Province in northeastern Bulgaria, dedicated to a 16-century Alevi saint called Demir Baba, whose body is believed to still lie in the tomb inside the main building. Demir Baba healed people and spread his wisdom while he was alive, while nowadays his relics are considered sacred and to work miracles. Alevism is a mystical branch of Islam, which doesnt require its followers to visit a mosque or observe too many rituals, the focus being more on the inner belief and pilgrimage. It is known for being very tolerant of all other religions. The word teke stands for a sacred Alevi place with a mausoleum, which means the Demir Baba Teke is a place for people of all religions to worship and reflect.

Archaeological research has found that the Alevi teke was built on top of an earlier Thracian sanctuary. This is a fairly common practice all over Bulgaria – one religions place of worship pops up on top of the previous one. There is a small museum house where documents and information about Demir Baba and Alevism are exhibited but most people dont come here for the history. The teke and the water spring inside its yard are rumored to have healing powers. As you wander around the buildings, you will see many pieces of clothing, socks, and handkerchiefs tied to tree branches. This is due to the local belief that if a sick person ties a piece of cloth at a sacred place, their sickness will remain with the cloth and they will leave healthy.

The mausoleum at Demir Baba Teke with the grave of Demir Baba himself There are many rituals people perform when they visit Demir Baba Teke but two of the most important are drinking from the spring and walking with their eyes closed to a special place where their fingers should fit into two openings on the wall this one is called pricking out the eyes of the witch.