Modifications of a Sacred Place Gül Baba's Tomb from the 17th Century to Post-Communist Times

Bektashi dervishes accompanied the Janissaries during the Ottoman expansion into Southeast Europe. Among them, Gül Baba – a Sufi poet – died around 1541 in Buda, Hungary. His tomb near the Castle Hill has since become part of the city’s cultural landscape and a symbol of Turkish–Hungarian historical entanglement. Originally a Muslim site of remembrance, it no longer functions as a shared sacred space. Instead, I argue, it has become a site of “disciplined historicity”, shaped by political interests and memory politics. This paper explores how the tomb’s meaning, use, and functions have evolved from the 17th century to post-Communist times, and which actors have shaped these transformations.