If you read fairy tales in childhood, you know Hodja Nasreddin. It is a folklore character of different countries and regions. Curious that Nasreddin is very popular in the former Soviet republics and there are many his monuments, for example in Moscow, Bukhara (Uzbekistan), Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan) and even in Kharkiv (Ukraine). Nowadays we can call Nasreddin east troll, freelancer and downshifter :).
In fact, his name sounds like Naṣr ad-Dīn, which means "Victory of Faith". And Hodja is not a name, and the prefix indicating that the man belonged to Sufi Muslims.
There is evidence that there was a real prototype who lived in the town Akshehir in the 13th century. His largest monument is erected here. There are several other smaller monumets in the town.
Akshehir - the native land of Nasreddin Hodja ©Yuriy Buriak
And the city continue to use the glory of bearded man with a donkey. Actually Turkish Nasreddin is considered canonical. Historians have found that there was a real man with a name Nasreddin that lived in Akshehir in the 13th century. Tourists can visit his grave and a small mausoleum. Of course no one can say that this is real tomb of Hodja Nasreddin :)
Tomb and Mausoleum of Hodja Nasreddin ©adadenizi.wordpress.com
3D panorama of this place
Сollection of Hodja stories
On July 5-10,the city hosts an annual celebration dedicated to Nasreddin.
Getting there: The nearest airport is in Konya, then by bus. In Akşehir run buses of the following companies: www.luksakselseyahat.com, www.kamilkoc.com.tr, www.metroturizm.com.tr. Akşehir also has a railway station on a branch between Afyon and Konya (information about trains in Turkey).
