This paper examines the way in which a woman marginalized by her madness, homelessness, and Romani ethnicity became both a popular legend and a symbol of civic identity. In 2007, the city government in Bursa, Turkey, undertook the near-total demolition of the Kamberler neighborhood and the eviction of its residents, most of whom were Romani. The park that replaced the neighborhood, Kamberler Historical Park, showcases ten busts of Ottoman sultans and several Ottoman-era buildings, linking the park with the AKP’s many neo-Ottoman architectural projects. A more surprising inclusion is the statue of a Romani woman nicknamed Deli Ayten, or “Crazy Ayten,” depicted carrying an assortment of colorful bags, a large drum, and a cümbüş (a banjo-like instrument). The actual Deli Ayten, Ayten Şenaşık (1953-1992), wandered the streets of Kamberler and the Bursa market for over twenty years and was so beloved by city residents that over three thousand people attended her funeral. A comparative analysis of the conflicting versions of her life story found in newspapers and a musical put on by the Bursa municipal theater leads to the identification of several shared themes, including madness caused by ill-fated love. Tracing these themes through Turkish and Middle Eastern historical sources and literary traditions, I show how her story lent itself to reconstruction as a myth. I then examine how and why this quasi-legendary figure became part of Bursa’s “brand,” promoted by the city through not only her statue and the musical but also a display in the city museum and a documentary film (scheduled for release in 2015). Finally, I suggest that the Deli Ayten narrative both complicates and supports the Bursa government’s construction of a neo-Ottoman identity.