The Şeyh Yusuf el-Hekim sanctuary in Harbiye is the most widely known and actively used shared sacred site in Hatay for dream incubation. With its white walls and green dome, it has the main features of an Arab Alawite sacred site, which Muslims and Christians alike recognize as a major healing site. The sanctuary of Şeyh Yusuf el-Hekim is part of a larger compound with tombs of less well-known sheiks of the Arab Alawite community. Devotees believe that Şeyh Yusuf el-Hekim was a medical doctor who lived here and practiced medicine during the times of the Crusades. According to legend, he indiscriminately treated Muslims and Christians without accepting any payment for his services. One can observe saint veneration rituals, along with the practice of dream incubation, during the nightly hours, especially from Thursday to Friday when believed to be most powerful. It is believed that Şeyh Yusuf exercises his healing powers by performing surgeries and other forms of healing.
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The St. George Church (Turkish: Mar Corcus Kilisesi) in Iskenderun is the most widely shared Christian sacred site in Hatay, visited by Muslims. The wood-sheathed outer walls of the church hold printed replicas of icons, many of them depicting the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, or various scenes of St. George killing a dragon. The nave is kept empty to accommodate large numbers of devotees from all around the neighborhood that can be expected for religious festivals, like those related to the saint’s day of St. George on May 5, which coincides with the Hıdrellez festival due to the Julian Calendar and thus attracts more than a thousand visitors. Members of the local Christian and Muslim community come to perform saint veneration rituals and to make their vows and wishes in front of this icon after having touched and kissed all icons that cover the church walls, including the iconostasis. From the late evening hours on May 5 until the early morning hours of May 6, the church is packed with visitors and devotees who come in small groups and could easily add up to four hundred at a time inside as well as outside of the church.
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The Hazreti Hızır Ziyareti in Samandağ is a well-established shared sanctuary next to the estuary of the Orontes River directly at the Mediterranean Sea. This is why this site is identified with the Qur’anic legend called “Where the Two Waters Meet” as part of the famous Surah al-Kahf (Q. 18: 62–80), as this is believed to be the place where Moses (Turkish: Musa) met Hızır for the first time. Aside from the chalk rock, which is of special significance for Arab Alawites because it is believed that it is the place where Moses (Turkish: Musa) slept before meeting Hızır. Other than its white walls and large green dome and besides the usual paraphernalia in its interior, this sanctuary is so unique, as it does not resemble any other sacred site in the region. Aside from its round shape, the sanctuary itself does not contain a tomb at its center. Instead, it encircles a white chalk rock as its most sacred object of veneration. The sanctuary is, with its approximately three hundred square meters, so spacious that it can easily accommodate several hundred visitors circling the rock simultaneously during festivals like that of Hıdrellez.
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