Places to visit
MEVLANA MUSEUM
As the capital of the Seljuk Turks from the 12th to the 13th centuries, Konya ranks as one of the great cultural centers of Turkey. During that period of cultural, political and religious growth, the mystic Mevlana Celaleddin-i 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 now serves as a museum housing manuscript of Mevlana’s works and various artefacts related to the mysticism of the sect.
Every year during the first half of December, Şeb-i Arus (Wedding Night) ceremony held in commemoration of Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi, with the controlled, trance-like turning or sema of the white-robed men creating a fascinating performance for the viewer.
NEOLITHIC SITE OF CATALHOYUK
Çatalhöyük is renowned as one of the earliest settlements of the Neolithic era, shedding light on the dawn of human settlement with unique examples of the earliest domestic architecture and landscape painting as well as sacred objects of the mother-goddess cult.
The place where the first known settlement, the first urbanization and the first animal domestication took place in the world is Neolithic Sites of Çatalhöyük. It is on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2012.
The site has extraordinary arts and crafts, with the earliest finds dating from 7400BC, and it has been an important key to unlocking the mysteries of the beginnings of agriculture and civilization. The social organization of the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük and its urban plan are believed to represent the ideals of equality.
The tumulus shows that the history of mining in Anatolia dates back to the Neolithic era and provides ample evidence that people were involved in agriculture as well as hunting and gathering at that time. Çatalhöyük is also the first site in the world where a city plan is depicted in wall paintings. Baked clay seals from the site show that the concept of property ownership developed in that era.
KARATAY MADRASAH KONYA TILE WORKS MUSEUM
Karatay Madrasah, which is used as Konya Tile Works Museum since 1955, was built by Emir Celâleddin Karatay in 1251 during the reign of the Seljuk Sultan II. Izzeddin Keykâvus.
The interiors of the madrasa are covered with mosaic and plate tiles. Its architect is estimated to be Muhammed bin Havlan. The madrasa was built with Sille stone.
The madrasa was built in the style of the “Medrese with Closed Courtyard” to teach hadith and tafsir during the Seljuk period. Its walls were built of stone, the domes and vaults were made of brick.
It is located in the city center.
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