THE PERCEPTION OF ELVAN CELEBI BY THE PEOPLE LIVING AROUND ELVAN CELEBI ZAWIYAH ELVAN ÇELEBİ ZAVİYESİ ETRAFINDA YAŞAYAN HALKIN ELVAN ÇELEBİ ALGISI

Elvan Çelebi Mosque and Tomb is located on the Çorum-Amasya road and in the village of Elvan Çelebi. This study was carried out to determine the perceptions of the people living in Elvan Çelebi village about Elvan Çelebi. For this purpose, the snowball sampling method, which is one of the non-random sampling methods, was preferred in the qualitative study. 14 people participated in the study. Audio recordings of the interviews were made with the consent of the participants. These records were converted into written text and subjected to content analysis. Later, the identified codes were brought together with the themes. As a result of the research, it has been revealed that Elvan Çelebi Tomb is accepted as a place of visit by the local people and attracts visitors from the near and even distant regions. In the research, it was determined that the participants did not have enough information about the identity of Elvan Çelebi, they repeated the written information at the entrance of the tomb and perceived the area where the tomb is located as sacred. Participants stated that the shrine is mostly visited by epilepsy patients, those with mental depression, the paralyzed, hopeless patients and those who do not have children. Participants also reported that those who had come to the tomb before and made a wish and had a son named their children "Elvan". Finally, it was revealed in the research that the Elvan Çelebi Mosque and Tomb should be restored in accordance with its original form in order to increase the number of visitors. In addition to contributing to the relevant literature, the research also gave homework to the local people and administrators in bringing the village to faith tourism.
Keywords: Elvan Çelebi Village, Elvan Çelebi Zawiyah, Elvan Çelebi Tomb, Elvan Çelebi.