Konya, one of Turkey's oldest continuously inhabited cities was known as Iconium in Roman times. The capital of the Seljuk Turks from the 12th to the 13th century, it ranks as one of the great cultural centres of Turkey. During this period of artistic, political and religious growth, the mystic Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi founded a Sufi Order known in the West as the Whirling Dervishes. The striking green-tiled mausoleum of Mevlana is Konya's most famous building. Attached to the mausoleum the former dervish seminary serves now as a museum devoted to manuscripts of Mevlana's works and various artefacts related to the mysticism of the sect. Every year, in the first half of December, this still-active religious order holds a ceremony commemorating the Whirling Dervishes. The controlled, almost trance-like turning of the white-robed men creates a mystical experience for the viewer.

Madrasa is an Arabic word for any kind of school, secular or religious, for basic or higher education. So this madrasa was built in Konya, Turkey by Celaleddin Karatay the governor of the town, who served the sultan of Seljuk in 1251. The blue tiles are impeccable and must-see masterpieces that reflect local art and the culture. This madrasa has a strong bond with the great thinker Mevlana.

Konya's Archaeological Museum of exceptional interest. The collection of the Koyunoglu Museum is a varied one, and among its displays, one is devoted to natural history while another to old kilims. Within the museum complex, the restored Izzettin Koyunoglu house illustrates the way of life of a prosperous Konya family.

The tomb of the human and Islamic mystic philosopher Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi is here. The complex was built in the 14th century and the centre of the religious order of whirling dervishes. His most famous poem represents the central beliefs of Sufism: Come, come, whoever you are, come! Heathen, fire-worshipper or idolator, come! Come even if you have broken your penitence a hundred times, Ours is the door of hope, come as you are. The order of Mevlevi, better known in the west as the Whirling Dervishes, was founded by the 13th-century Sufi mystic, Celaleddin Rumi, who was also known as Mevlana. He was a poet, who believed that music and dance provided the means to enter a religious state of ecstasy thereby discovering divine love, and formed a religion, or philosophy based on tolerance.

The splendid structure has a strong history for the people. Many centuries ago the mother of Byzantine Grand-King Constantine, Helen, set off from Rome on a pilgrimage from Holy Square "Jerusalem'.' She visited Konya on that long journey. Helena ordered to build the Aya Elena chapel here for the good of Mihail Arkhankolos, the champion for the Church in accordance with the Bible when she saw these fascinating chapels, grave churches and monasteries belonging to the first ages of Christianity.