Konya's Workshop Keeps Sikke Tradition Alive

The tall, light brown hats worn by the whirling dervishes are as captivating as the graceful, elliptical dance performed in honor of the Sufi poet and mystic, Rumi. In Konya, a vast city on the central Anatolian plain where Rumi spent much of his life and passed away 750 years ago, one of the last workshops still crafts these special "sikke" hats to order.

Yunus Girgiç, the master craftsman behind these creations, refuses to sell sikkes to tourists. These hats are strictly reserved for authentic dervish dancers, and he ensures they don’t fall into the hands of amateurs by carefully questioning potential clients about their intentions.

Girgiç, "I ask a few simple questions, and it quickly becomes clear who I’m dealing with"

During the "sema" dance ritual, dervishes remove their long black coats but keep the sikke on, symbolizing a tombstone and the transition from life on Earth to a meeting with God. The techniques for making these deeply symbolic felt hats, each standing at 26 to 27 centimeters tall, have been passed down through four generations to Girgiç.

Every sikke begins with a kilo of goat or sheep wool, which is patiently stretched, soaked multiple times in soapy water, and rolled out flat like dough. This ancient felting technique tightens and strengthens the fibers, explains Girgiç, who works alongside two apprentices.

The wool, now condensed to about 350 grams, is then molded onto wooden forms that are tailored to each customer's head size and left to dry for up to two days. Girgiç’s workshop produces between 30 and 80 sikkes annually, with each one priced at 2,000 Turkish liras (approximately $70) and designed to last for about 45 years.