TEKKÉ SARI-SALTIK
Tekké betkashi in an impressive setting on the edge of a cliff at an altitude of 1,070 m, offering beautiful views over the region.
According to local tradition, this tekké bektashi (Teqja e Sari Salltikut) was founded in the 13th century, two hundred years before the arrival of the Ottomans and the first conversions to Islam in Albania. Of modest size, it is located in an impressive setting and attracts pilgrims and curious people who enjoy here the most beautiful view of the region. The sanctuary is clinging to the edge of the cliff overlooking Kruja, at an altitude of 1,070 meters. It consists of a small green-roofed kiosk, an altar sheltered in a crack in the cliff, a balcony suspended above the void and a staircase leading down to a cavity in the rock where there are tombs and a water source. This Sufi place of worship, which has been rebuilt many times, is said to have been created by Sari Saltik (c. 1230-1298), a dervish from Central Asia who fought for the Byzantines in the Balkans in the 1260s. A disciple of Hadji Bektaş Veli, who was the originator of the brotherhood of bektashis, Sari Saltik was given the mission to propagate the teachings of his mentor. He can be traced from the Greek island of Corfu to Herzegovina via Ohrid in Northern Macedonia. In Kruja, a recent statue of Sari Saltik is enthroned in the tekké. Legend has it that the shrine was founded on the very spot where the dervish slayed a seven-headed dragon. This kind of myth often accompanies the creation of Sufi places of worship, as in Mount Tomorr, near Berat, where the bektashis organize each year in August the largest pilgrimage in Albania.
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