Abstract:

One of the treatment methods of Turkish folk medicine, which includes treatment methods that have survived to the present day with a rich content, is to seek healing by going to the places to visit. The places to visit, which are believed to have holiness and healing power in all Turkish societies, have functioned as a treatment center in the past. Praying there, making offerings, sacrificing, lighting candles, throwing money, and sometimes sleeping there at night are all practices for treatment. These places include tombs, entombed saints, water springs, caves, trees, stones, rocks, and hills believed to be good for diseases. The Anatolian lands have a rich accumulation in this respect. Folk medicine practices have been put in the second place with the change in the economic and social conditions of the people who practice them and the development of modern medicine. However, when the need for traditional medicine increased again, the rediscovery of tradition came to the fore. Accordingly, in this article, Gümüşhane and its districts were selected as the sample, the places to visit in this sample were determined, and which places were preferred as a treatment for which disease was examined. In the article, observation, interview, guide and information collection methods from source persons and literature review were used.

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