Demir Baba Tekke is a 16th-century Alevi mausoleum near the village of Sveshtari, Isperih Municipality, Razgrad District in northeastern Bulgaria. As part of the Sboryanovo Historical and Archaeological Reserve, Demir Baba Tekke is one of the 100 tourist sites in Bulgaria. The tekke was one of the first officially declared national cultural monuments in the State Gazette (No. 66 of 1927) due to its remarkable architecture, natural environment and preservation.
Demir Baba is a spiritual leader and healer, and his name translates to “iron father”. He is highly revered by the Alevis, who are a closed community that diligently preserves their rituals. They do not visit mosques because they teach orthodox Sunni Islam.
The word “tekke” is a Muslim ritual complex of buildings, in which the central place is occupied by the heptagonal tomb of the Alyan saint, called a “turbe”. This is a special place intended for the gathering of dervishes.