Konya Turkey, 2023

Konya: Mevlana Mosque and Museum

Konya is about 3 hours southwest of Göreme by bus (they're more reliable than Turkish trains.) It was the home of the 13th-century, Sufi mystic and poet, Rumi (Mevlana Muhammad Jalal Al-Din Rumi.) Our hotel terrace provided this amazing view of the Mevlana Mosque and Museum where he's entombed.

Konya: Mevlana Mosque

The Mevlana Mosque is a lovely place with beautiful tiling, filled with light.

Konya: Mevlana Museum – Rumi's Tomb

Besides Rumi's tomb, shown here, the Mevlana Museum has a wonderful collection of early Ottoman art and calligraphy.

Konya: Mevlana Museum Dervishes

The Mevlana Museum and Mosque are the center of Dervish culture. The museum was originally a madrassa. Friendly, mannequins show Dervishes practicing for Saturday's dance.

Konya: Food Market

After the Mevlana Mosque and Museum, we head to the markets. As elsewhere in Turkey, the variety and quality are top notch.

Konya: Market Spices

A stall in the market offering dried fruits, nuts and spices.

Konya: Market Yogurt

Another stall in the market offering yogurts, cheeses and olives.

Konya: Butterfly Conservatory

The next day, we hired a driver for sightseeing outside of Konya. First stop was the Butterfly Conservatory, one of the largest such facilities in the world. It was totally tropical inside.

Konya: Butterfly Conservatory

Butterflies everywhere. Occasionally, one would pose for you.

Konya: Sille Town

Our next stop was Sille, a town with a rich Roman and early Christian history. In the town's center sits the Hagia Eleni Church.

Konya: Sille Church

The Hagia Eleni Church was built in the 4th century CE by Saint Helena, the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine I, who, by converting to Christianity, began the Byzantine era.

Konya: Sille Church Dome

The Turkish people have a real flair for dome decoration.

Konya: Sille Time Museum

On a hill above the church sits this small castle. It turned out to be a journey back in time.

Konya: Sille Time Museum Astrolabe

The Time Museum has a wonderful exhibit of ancient time-keeping and astronomy instruments. This beautiful brass astrolabe, more than a meter in diameter, could measure the positions of stars and planets to a high precision.

Konya: Sille Time Museum Star Finder

An early Arabic star finder. I love the movable wheels.

Konya: Chataholyuk Archeological Site

Our final stop that day was this archeological dig where artifacts dating back to 7400 BCE have been found.

Konya: Chataholyuk Archeological Site

This part of the dig is not currently being worked on and, so is open to visitors. There's a similar enclosed structure up the hill that was closed to the public.

Konya: Chataholyuk Hittite House

The stone-age people were replaced a few thousand years later by the Hittites. This is a replica of a typical Hittite house. The door is a modern addition for visitors. Hittites entered via a roof opening and ladder to keep out snakes and other wild animals.

Konya: Chataholyuk Fertility Goddess

The mother spirit worshiped by the Hittites.

Konya: Karatay Tile Museum

We spent the next day exploring Konya. We first visited The Tile Museum, one of the most important museums of Islamic art in the world. The museum's collection includes a wide range of tiles, ceramics, and other artifacts from the Seljuk and Ottoman periods.

Konya: Karatay Tile Museum

Konya is the center of Turkish tile production. The Karatay Tile Museum is housed in the Karatay Madrasa, a 13th-century theological school.

Konya: Kültür Park

From the Tile Museum, we headed to the central part of Konya, which is occupied by two large parks: Alaaddin Hill Park, with trails and historic monuments, and Kültür Park, with plazas and fountains. The huge Haciveyiszade Mosque is in the background.

Konya: Haciveyiszade Mosque

The Haciveyiszade Mosque's outside is clad in polished white marble. The inside is covered in brilliant tiles.

Next stop – Ephesus