Aksehir - Nasrettin Hoca Türbesi

On the southern edge of the Old Town of Aksehir stands the türbe of the legendary Turkish humorist Nasrettin Hoca, a teacher at the Koranic school, who lived in Aksehir for more than 50 years until his death. A plaque above his grave in the lovingly tended columned pavilion (restored in 1905) declares "Here lies not a man but a philosophy!" Believed to have been born in 1208 in Horto near Sivrihisar, son of the Imam Abdullah, Hoca is the acknowledged doyen of Turkish folk humor. A scholar with a huge turban and whiter-than-white beard, he has achieved immortality through more than 500 anecdotes. With his sharp wit and subtle moral sense he stimulated his fellows to laugh and to ponder on every conceivable subject, even death. It seems wholly in keeping that, while the gate to the türbe is secured with a strong lock, the iron railings at the sides are missing and the tomb therefore quite open.