Budali Hocha Turbe, Thermes, Xanthi

The Site

Thermes is a cluster of three neighboring villages approximately 40 kilometers from the town of Xanthi, close to the Greek-Bulgarian border. These are ethnically mixed villages including Greek speaking Orthodox Christians, bilingual (Turkish-Greek) Muslims and Muslim Pomaks (who speak the Slavic Pomak language along with Greek and Turkish).
Following Heath Lowry’s descriptions and with the help of a local who guided us we found, by the river, the tomb (turbe) of Budali Hocha, a saint who is said to be buried there. Lower, on the river bank there was an Ottoman domed bathhouse. Lowry assumed that there was a tekke, a dervish lodge at this location dating back to the 14th century but the turbe has undergone a major renovation that has fully modernized the building.

The Practice

What attracted us to this location was Lowry’s note that headscarves were tied to tree branches and bushes along the path from the turbe to the domed bathhouse referring to a wish-making practice known among Muslim women. We walked the path and were able to confirm Lowry’s observation as there are still pieces of clothing tied on the trees on the way to the bathhouse. As our guide told us locals visit the place to pray to the saint and use the bathhouse although a new spa has been recently built nearby. We were later told in a nearby village that Christians also visit the site on the first day of May.

References

Lowry, H.W., 2009. In the footsteps of the Ottomans : a search for sacred spaces & architectural monuments in northern Greece. Bahçeşehir University Press, Istanbul.