General

Tour Style Private Tour

Departure:Everyday

Morning Drive for Konya AT 08:00AM
Konya was known as Iconium in Roman times and was the capital of the Seljuk Turks from the 12th to 13th centuries. Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi founded a Sufi order known as the Whirling Dervishes. We will visit the Museum of Mevlana: The dervish lodge (tekke) includes a semahane, where the ritual sema or whirling ceremony takes place, a sadirvan for ritual ablutions, a library, living and teaching quarters, and the mausoleum housing the tomb of Celaleddin Rumi, founder of the sect and later awarded the honorable title of Mevlana. His epitaph reads: “Do not seek our tombs on this earth – our tombs are in the hearts of the enlightened.”

The mausoleum room is highly ornamented with Islamic script and enameled reliefs, and contains the tombs of several of the more important figures of the dervish order. The main tomb enclosed behind a silver gate crafted in 1597 is that of Mevlana. The tomb of his father, Bahaeddin Veled, is upright and adjacent to his son’s, a position that signifies respect.
The adjoining room, or the semihane, is now a museum of Mevlana memorabilia displaying musical instruments and robes belonging to Mevlana, along with Selçuk and Ottoman objects like gold-engraved Korans from the 13th century. Among the fabulous ancient prayer rugs is the most valuable silk carpet in the world.

We also visit the great Seljuk monuments such as the Karatay Medrese and the Ince Minareli Medrese.
Return  to your hotel in Ankara