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Konya,
one of Turkey's oldest continuously inhabited cities was
known as Iconium in Roman times. The capital
of the Seljuk Turks from the 12th to the 13th century, it
ranks as one of the great cultural centres of Turkey. During
this period of artistic, political and religious growth, the
mystic Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi founded a Sufi
Order known in the West as the Whirling Dervishes. The
striking green tiled mausoleum of Mevlana is Konya's most
famous building. Attached to the mausoleum the former
dervish seminary serves now as a museum devoted to
manuscripts of Mevlana's works and various artifacts related
to the mysticism of the sect.. Every year, in the first half
of December, this still active religious order holds a
ceremony commemorating the Whirling Dervishes. The
controlled, almost trance-like turning of the white robed
men creates a mystical experience for the viewer.
 Alaeddin
Mosque, built on the site of the ancient citadel in
1220 during the reign of the great Seljuk sultan Alaeddin
Keykubat, commands Konya's skyline. To one side of the
mosque are the scant remains of the Seljuk Imperial Palace.
The Karatay Medrese, now a museum, displays
bald and striking Seljuk ceramics. On the other side of the
mosque the Ince Minareli Medrese of 1258 is
remarkable for its marvellous baroque Seljuk portal. Other
Seljuk works include the Sırçalı Medrese and the Sahip
Ata Complex.
Visitors
find Konya's Archaeological Museum of
exceptional interest. The collection of the Koyunoglu
Museum is a varied one, and among its displays one
is devoted to natural history while another to old kilims.
Within the museum complex the restored Izzettin Koyunoğlu
house illustrates the way of life of a prosperous
Konya family.
Sille,
10 km north of Konya, has a Byzantine church and several
rock chapels with frescoes. Akşehir, to the northwest, is
known throughout Turkey as the birthplace of the 13th
century humorist Nasrettin Hoca, whose mausoleum stands in
the town. The 13th century Ulu Mosque and the Altınkale
Mescidi are other monuments worth seeing; the Sahip
Ata Mausoleum has been converted into the town's
museum.
On
the way south to Beyşehir stop at Eflatun Pınar next to
the lake to see this unusual Hittite monumental fountain.
Several interesting Seljuk buildings are scattered around
lovely Beyşehir, on the shores of Turkey's third largest
lake, Beyşehir Lake. Among the monuments are the Eşrefoğlu
Mosque and Medrese, and the Kubad-Abad Summer Palace
across the lake. Another medieval palace stands on Kızkalesi
Island, opposite the Kubad-Abad palace.
Catalhöyük,
45 km south of Konya, is a fascinating Neolithic site dating
from the eight millennium B.C., which makes it one of the
world's oldest towns. Archaeologists have determined that
holes in the roofs of the mud houses were the entrance
doors. Ankara's Museum of Anatolian Civilisations
displays the famous temple, mother-goddess figures and
Neolithic frescoes from the site. At Ivriz, a
Hittite site 168 km east of Konya, you can see one of
Turkey's finest neo-Hittite reliefs of a king and fertility
god. Karaman, once the capital of the
Karamanid Emirate, was the first Turkish state to use
Turkish, not Persian, as the official language. Fittingly,
Yunus Emre, the first great poet to write in Turkish, lived
here in the 13th century. The surrounding fortresses date
from Seljuk times, although the town's most significant
buildings, the Araboğlu, Yunus Emre and Aktekke Mosques and
the Hatuniye Medrese, were all built during the Karamanid
reign.
Near
Taşkale, 48 km east of Karaman, on the rocky northern slope
of Yeşildere Valley, are the remains of the fascinating,
historical city of Manazan. Built during Byzantine times,
the entire city of narrow lanes, houses, squares, storage
facilities, chapels and cemeteries (occupying an area
approximately three kilometres long and five stories high)
was carved into the rocky hillside of the valley. Today
parts of the city are still used for wheat storage. South of
Karaman up a steep narrow road are the remains of a
beautiful Byzantine monastery, Alahan. Much still stands,
and there is some fine stone carving to admire. This
magnificent location offers a breathtaking view.
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