Konya

Set on the vast, flat horizon of the Central Anatolian plateau at 1,020 metres above sea level, Konya is one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban centres in the world. Long before the Romans knew it as Iconium (visited three times by St Paul on his missionary journeys), prehistoric farmers built the rooftop-entry mudbrick houses of UNESCO-listed Çatalhöyük just forty kilometres south-east on the Konya Plain around 7400 BC.

Between 1097 and 1308, Konya reached its architectural zenith as the royal capital of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, when sultans such as Alaeddin Keykubad I adorned Alaeddin Hill and the surrounding avenues with the cobalt-and-turquoise ceramic domes of Karatay Madrasa and the carved stone portals of İnce Minareli Madrasa. During that golden age, the Persian-born Sufi poet and mystic Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi (Mevlana, 1207 to 1273) lived and wrote his Masnavi here; today his Turquoise Dome (Kubbe-i Hadra) at the Mevlana Museum and the Whirling Dervish Sema ceremony draw visitors from every corner of the globe, paired with the 5,000-year-old rock churches of Sille. Start with our before-you-go briefing and top things to do in Konya.

Konya is one of the best-connected cities in inland Turkey thanks to TCDD's High-Speed Train (Yüksek Hızlı Tren, YHT), which pulls directly into central Konya Gar (or Selçuklu YHT Station) in 1 hour 45 minutes from Ankara and 4 hours 30 minutes from Istanbul Söğütlüçeşme/Pendik. By air, Konya Airport (KYA) lies 18 kilometres north-east of the centre, served by Havaş shuttles and taxis. Inside town, two tram lines (including the nostalgic bike-carrying tram between Alaeddin and Mevlana) accept contactless bank cards. See getting to Konya and how trams and cycling work.

To walk out to the Mevlana Museum at dawn and dusk, stay in the historic Karatay / Aziziye quarter around Mevlana Caddesi, where restored Ottoman houses and boutique hotels sit five minutes from the Green Dome and Bedesten Bazaar. If you prefer modern international five-star hotels with spas and easy tram access, book along the northern Selçuklu corridor (near KuleSite and Selçuklu YHT Station), or choose leafy Meram in the south-west. Compare all areas in where to stay in Konya.

Pay your respects beneath the turquoise tiles of the Mevlana Museum and Rose Garden, attend a Saturday Whirling Dervish Sema ceremony at the Mevlana Cultural Centre, admire 13th-century Seljuk tilework inside Karatay Madrasa and İnce Minareli Madrasa, visit 9,400-year-old Çatalhöyük, explore the 327 AD church of Sille Village, and drive to the wooden columns of Beyşehir Eşrefoğlu Mosque. Full list in things to do in Konya.

Konya's cuisine is the direct heir of the medieval Seljuk palace and Mevlevi dervish kitchens: metre-long crispy flatbreads topped with hand-minced lamb, tomatoes and peppers (etli ekmek), lamb shoulder slow-roasted for six hours in an oak-fired brick oven (Konya fırın kebabı), tangy festive okra soup (bamya çorbası), flaky triangular tirit and sweet cheese-stuffed sac arası pastries. Read more in our Konya food and Mevlevi kitchen guide.

Guided by Mevlana Rumi's timeless call, "Come, come, whoever you are", Konya is a conservative, deeply hospitable city where 800 years of Sufi philosophy, Seljuk stone geometry and Turkey's largest network of urban bicycle lanes coexist in calm harmony.