Konya
Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province.
During ancient history and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in English its name is usually spelt Konia or Koniah. In the Late Middle Ages, Konya was the capital of the Seljuk Turks' Sultanate of Rum, from where the sultans ruled over Anatolia. Today it is the spiritual centre of the Mevlevi Order, famous for its Whirling Dervishes.
Getting to Konya
"Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving — it doesn't matter, Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vow a hundred times, Come, come again, come." — Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī
Worth seeing
- 01Mevlana Museum
Rumi (1207–1273) was a Persian poet, philosopher and teacher who lived in Konya after the Byzantine Romans had been ousted but the area was still known as "Rum".
- 02Iplikçi Mosque
This mosque was built in 1202 AD (598 AH), a brick Seljuk structure.
- 03Ince Minare Museum
This medrassa (seminary) was built in 1265.
- 04Archaeology Museum
Attractive display of finds from the region, especially the carved sarcophagi and discoveries at Çatalhöyük.
- 05Karatay Medresesi Museum
Medrassa built in 1251 and now a museum of Seljuk tiles.
Things to do
- 01Sema
Where to eat
Local cuisine centres on wheat/bread and mutton. That's one in the eye for Mevlana, himself a strict vegan. Etliekmek is a very long thin pizza with meat or cheese, as if the delivery rider had lost an argument with a steamroller. Tandır kebap is soft and juicy lamb meat slowly cooked in a wood-fired oven. Okra soup (bamya çorbası) is baby okra and chunks of meat cooked in sweet-sour pomegranate molasses.
Getting around Konya the local way
- Get inThree trains continue east to Karaman (50 min), which has buses to Silifke for the Cyprus ferry.
- Get inThe Sufi Trail is a partly marked, 800-km hiking and cycling trail from Istanbul (with a ferry connection) through Yalova, İznik, Osmaneli, Bilecik, Söğüt, Eskişehir, Seyitgazi, Emirdağ, Akşehir, and Sille to Konya, with way-stops at various Sufi shrines and other ancient sites.
- Go nextAksaray – A laid-back city and great hub for the surrounding attractions near Güzelyurt, or like Tuz Gölü ("Salt Lake"), the second largest lake in Turkey is becoming a popular day trip from the Cappadocian towns, to wade across it shallow waters and to take a few pictures of its vivid, dreamlike views.
- Go nextIt's a stop-off on the way to Adana, and you change here for transport to the coast, for ferries to Cyprus.
From Wikivoyage: Konya, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Petar Milošević (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.