The Mani Road where yearning and longing are expressed

In the district of Kemaliye in Erzincan, the words of women who composed verses of longing and yearning for their spouses who went abroad during the Ottoman period are exhibited on the Mani Road. Thousands of local and foreign tourists flock to see the Mani Road and read the verses. Known as Eğin in the past and now as Kemaliye, described as the gateway to paradise in the East with its natural beauty, especially hosts thousands of local and foreign tourists during the summer months. The Mani Road located above the center of Kemaliye district expresses the longing and yearning of women. During the Ottoman period, as a significant number of men in the district went to Istanbul for work, verses written by women about longing and yearning turned into mani on the road where these verses are hung on poles, attracting attention. Officials from the Culture and Tourism Committee of Kemaliye Municipality stated that many tourists come to see the Mani Road, and provided the following statement: ‘Kemaliye, with its former name Eğin, has carried the scent of longing and yearning from the old days to the present in the form of verses. During the Ottoman period, the butchers from Eğin, who were called licensed butchers nationwide, had to leave their wives, children, mothers, and fiancées in their hometowns due to this necessity. After their long departures, the women left behind in their villages wrote verses expressing their longing and yearning for them to the roads of journey. Our women expressed their sorrows and longings with verses like ‘If I die, do not cover my face. I long, I close my eyes. Put a window on my grave, so that if my beloved comes, I can see their face.’ As their grandchildren, we hung our verses on poles in the upper part of our district. A road was built here with the logic that these verses are the pride of Eğin residents. This place was designed as the Mani Road. In front of the verses, mulberry trees, which are very important for our cultural identity, were planted. And this place became a very emotional Mani road. Tourists from all over Turkey come to visit this road.