Right in Hacıbektaş' centre is this tranquil dervish dergah (lodge), now a museum as well as a place of pilgrimage for those of the Bektaşı faith. Several rooms are arranged as they might have been when the Bektaşı order lived here, with dioramas of dervish life and beautiful exhibits of clothing, musical instruments and jewellery. The Meydan Evi (meeting house), where initiation ceremonies were performed, has an intricate wooden dove-tailed ceiling, its crossbeams symbolising the nine levels of heaven.
Amid the rose gardens of the museum's inner courtyard is the Pir Evi (House of the Masters), which contains the Mausoleum of Haci Bektaş Veli . Walk down the stairs, passing the tiny cell where dervishes would retreat to pray, to enter the Kırklar Meydanı (where dervish ceremonies took place), its walls decorated with colourful floral and geometric motifs. Haci Bektaş Veli's tomb is in a separate room to the right.
Across the rose gardens from the Pir Evi is the Mausoleum of Balım Sultan (another important religious leader), with a 700-year-old mulberry tree – its aged branches propped up by wooden posts – just outside.
