TEKKÉ HALA-SULTAN

Enjoying a magnificent setting on the edge of the salt lake, this sanctuary (Τεκές Χαλά Σουλτάνας/Tekes Chala Soultanas, Hala Sultan Tekkesi) is considered by some to be Islam's fourth holiest site, after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. It is dedicated to Umm Harâm (c. 570-652): called Hala Sultan in Turkish, she was the Prophet Mohammed's nurse and the wife of Ubâda ibn As-Sâmit, a warlord who took part in the first Arab conquests. It includes a tekké (Sufi place of worship), Umm Harâm's mausoleum and a mosque (Sunni place of worship). Umm Harâm, then elderly but already considered an important figure in Islam, is said to have died here in 652... by falling off her donkey, while accompanying her husband who had come to quell a revolt. Her remains were taken back to Arabia. But according to local belief, Umm Harâm was buried here. The tomb is guarded by dervishes, members of the mystical Sufi branch of Islam. Most of the buildings date from the ^18th and ^19th centuries. Left derelict since the forced departure of the Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s, they were restored under the aegis of the United Nations. And, since 2011, the Naqshbandi Sufi brotherhood has been welcoming pilgrims.

Visit. The gate opens onto the garden of Gülşen-Feyz ("Rose Garden of Plenitude"). On either side of the entrance are the houses where the faithful are welcomed: the haremlik, on the right, for women, the selamlik, on the left, for men. Next stands the domed mosque. Built in 1813-1817, the minaret was rebuilt in 1959. Behind the wall facing Mecca (the qiba) stands the tomb of Umm Harâm. The sarcophagus is covered in green velvet and protected by a grille. Whether or not it is empty remains a mystery. It is surrounded by four tombs, including that of Adila Khanum (1879-1929), wife of Hussein ben Ali (1856-1931), Sherif of Mecca and founder of the Jordanian dynasty. On the opposite side is the fountain (1797) for ritual ablutions. Finally, in the eastern part, the complex houses a cemetery used until the end of the ^19th century. You can also visit the archaeological site of Vyzakia, 600 m north-west of the sanctuary, by the roadside. These are the remains of a city that developed thanks to the lake salt trade in the ^2nd millennium BC. The city prospered between 1750 and 1150 BC, not only thanks to the lake's "white gold", but also by exporting minerals from the Troodos.