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Intangible Cultural Heritage
Intangible Cultural Heritage in Turkey
Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling Festival
Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling Festival
Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling Festival
Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling Festival is a festival held in Edirne, Turkey. Each festival is inaugurated by Agha Kırkpınar in a in a ceremony featuring forty bands of drums and shawms while the golden belt is carried the across the city, followed by prayers recited in the Selimiye Mosque.
After that, wrestling takes place over a grassy meadow after the wrestlers’ bodies are anointed with olive oil. Men of different regions and ages participate in it, in the presence of thousands of spectators.
Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling Festival was inscribed in 2010 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in Turkey.
After that, wrestling takes place over a grassy meadow after the wrestlers’ bodies are anointed with olive oil. Men of different regions and ages participate in it, in the presence of thousands of spectators.
Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling Festival was inscribed in 2010 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in Turkey.

by Oğulcan GÜNEL, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

by unknown author, Math34 (assumed), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

by unknown author, Math34 (assumed), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling Festival
Date of Inscription
2010
See also in Turkey
Spring Celebration, Hıdrellez
Nawrouz
Mevlevi Sema Ceremony
Arts of the Meddah, Public Storytellers
Karagöz
Âşıklık (Minstrelsy) Tradition
Traditional Sohbet Meetings
Semah, Alevi-Bektaşi Ritual
Ceremonial Keşkek Tradition
Mesir Macunu Festival
Traditional Craftsmanship of Çini-Making
Turkish Coffee Culture and Tradition
Ebru, Turkish Art of Marbling
Whistled Language
Traditional Turkish Archery
Hüsn-i Hat, Traditional Calligraphy in Islamic Art in Turkey
Heritage of Dede Qorqud/Korkyt Ata/Dede Korkut, Epic Culture, Folk Tales and Music
Traditional Intelligence and Strategy Game: Togyzqumalaq, Toguz Korgool, Mangala/Göçürme
Art of Miniature
Flatbread Making and Sharing Culture: Lavash, Katyrma, Jupka, Yufka
Traditional Ahlat Stonework
Sericulture and Traditional Production of Silk for Weaving
Telling Tradition of Nasreddin Hodja/ Molla Nesreddin/ Molla Ependi/ Apendi/ Afendi Kozhanasyr Anecdotes
Culture of Çay (tea), a Symbol of Identity, Hospitality and Social Interaction