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Kütahya is one of the important cities where the Akhis have been active since the Anatolian Selçuk and Germiyanoğulları Principality period. Examining the activities of the Ahi, who build lodges from cities to villages an deven hamlets since the foundation of the Ottoman Empire, in the mentioned region is very important for Ottoman urban history. Although they have come to the fore with their commercial activities lately, the share of the Akhis in the development of the region, who penetrated to the remotest corners of Anatolia and built Dervish lodges, cannot be denied. While the Akhi were busy with the moral religious upbringing of the tradesmen in the dervish lodges theyestablished, on the other hand, they provided services such as hosting the passengers coming to their dervish lodges offering food, sheltering the members of the dervish lodges and helping the poor. In this context, the existence of the dervish lodges they established in many parts of Anatolia reveals how important the organization is for our cultural history. Starting from this point, the effects of the dervish lodges, foundations, farms, mosque and settlements called Akhis belonging to the Ahi in the Kütahya sanjak on social and economic life constitute the subject of our study.

Due to the fact that the concept of visiting sacred places exists in Turkish culture and Islam, as in many other belief systems, the importance of beliefs and practices related to tombs, entombed saints and places of visit increase; and stories of extraordinary behaviours related to the lives of saints, awliyās, erens and dedes are brought along. In this context, the mausoleum, known as Seydisül, is among the places to go to ask for children, to eliminate infertility, to help grumpy kids behave, to overcome fear or a disaster, to make a cow give more milk and to make ill tempered animals well behave. Seydisül Mausoleum in Altıntaş District of Kütahya province, which has been known for its quarries since ancient times, is open to visitors today. Within the scope of this study, the architectural presentation and decoration features of the tomb are emphasized and an evaluation is made. Up-to-date photographs, plan drawings and decoration drawings were used in the promotion of the building. With the introduction of the tomb, which is dated to the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century with its architectural and ornamental features, it is aimed to contribute to the field of architectural history by settling its place within the Anatolian Turkish Architecture. The Seydisül Mausoleum, which draws attention with the spolia materials in the tomb facades and the burial it is in, has a square prism body. Despite its plain plan, the structure is important with its dome core, dome skirt, door and window decorations, and painting techniques on dry plaster on the south facade wall. It is seen that “S-C” fold, curtain motif and flower arrangements are included in the decoration.

Four new epigraphic finds from the Mihalıççık District encourage us to reconsider the role that villages and associations played among those who made dedications to the divine pair Hosios kai Dikaios. According to the distribution of the evidence, the cult originated and remained concentrated on the north-east of Phrygia Epiktetos, but spread all over western Asia Minor and even beyond. After surveying the documents known previously especially thanks to M. Ricl (1991; 1992a; 2008) and classifying elements of the dedication formula, slightly improved readings and interpretations are offered for the five inscriptions (re-) published by H. Güney (2018a): twice, the imperial slave Chryseros is attested as fulfilling vows to the gods together with his fellow villagers (nos. 2, 3); three other instances, however, involve associations: perhaps a Β̣[ακχῖ]ον, the obscure Παρ[---]διᾶται, and the Κταηνοῖ, further specified as the Βαχῖον τὸ περὶ Τύραννον (nos. 4, 5, 1). The combined evidence catalogued by Ricl and Güney adds up to some 185 dedications to Hosios kai Dikaios, including, in their views, 17 cases that originated from village communities, compared to only two by associations. The present study argues instead that the ascertained evidence for villages is only six and that this is on par with the documentation of associations. All six of the latter can be identified as Dionysiac thiasoi.