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 The
land is a wide plateau and has been continuously inhabited from
at least the 8th millenium BC onwards. Accommodating
one of the earliest human communities, Catalhoyuk is an ancient
city of that period which is considered to be one of the first
settlement areas in the world. Made up of mud houses, which
were entered through holes in the roofs, this site is a real
place of interest where you can feel the life prevailing, many
years ago.
 During
the 12th and 13th centuries, the city acted as the capital of
the Seljuk Turks and advanced rapidly to become a great cultural
center.In the environs of Konya, there also exist sites which
hold some remains from the Hittites. Ivriz is one, 168 kms east
of Konya, which is one of the finest neo-Hittite reliefs in
the country, representing a king and the fertility god of the
time. Eflatun Pinar is another important sight, which is a monument
fountain from the time of the Hittites, constituting a holy
place of the period. The finds from the district, including
the cult figures of the famous temple and the mother goddess,
together with old frescoes, are now on display in the Museum
of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. When
the Byzantines came into power, Konya became an independent
province and was given the name "Lycanoia." A Byzantine
church and several rock chapels filled with beautiful frescoes
can be seen in the town of Sille, 8 kms northwest of Konya,
where the first rock carved monasteries of the world were built.
 The
most famous building here is the Green Mausoleum of Mevlana
Celaleddin Rumi, the great Turkish philosopher
and poet. He is the founder of the sect of Whirling Dervishes,
the seminary that was attached to the mausoleum. It has been
converted into a museum housing Mevlana's works, and accoutrements
related to his sect. Every year in December, ceremonies are
held in Konya or the commemoration of Mevlana and the
Whirling
Dervishes. In this Dervish Festival, the "Sema"
dance is performed by men dressed in white robes, whirling and
rotating around the floor. This dance, in which the dancer with
the great love of God is believed to attain divine unity - it
is an event well worth seeing.On Alaeddin Hill in this region
is the Alaeddin mosque and palace, which are fine 13th century
monuments built during the reign of the famous Seljuk Sultan
Alaeddin Keykubat.Karatay Medresse, constructed in 1251, stands
to the north of this hill, and is now a museum which holds the
best examples of Seljuk tiles and ceramics.
The Ince Minareli Medresse with its fascinating monumental portal,
the Sircali Medresse, and the Iplikci Mosque are other Seljuk
works in the city. Beysehir,
94 kms west of Konya, was founded on the shores of Lake Beysehir,
the third largest lake in the country. There are the attractive
Seljuk monuments of Esrefoglu Mosque and its medresse and the
Kubad-Abad Summer Palace.
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