“The pious”, “The devout”, “She who renounced the world to follow Jesus”: just some of the epithets that the Koran bestows on Mary, whose name is mentioned no less than 36 times in the sacred book of Islam. In Turkey, a country with an overwhelming Islamic majority, many women bear the name of Mary, ‘Meryem’ in the local language. But devotion to Mary is most famously expressed there is the traditional visit to the “House of Mary”, placed on top of a hill called “Bülbüldâg”, close to Ephesus. According to tradition, the house was the last dwelling place of Mary on earth: there the Virgin is said to have lived six years, with the apostle John, after the death of Jesus. Each year many Christians go on pilgrimage to the “House of Mary” and many Moslems too. All the pilgrims drink from the “sacred fountain” and pray for good health. The Moslems, usually, congregate to pray in the room on the southern side of the house, thought to be the Virgin’s bedroom. D.R.
