As it reflects the signs of humanity’s heritage in every area, Konya is a world city rather than an ordinary city. Poets, writers, scholars and statesmen who passed through Konya in the past spoke wonderful words about the city from their own point of view.
World-famous Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi, whose name is identified with the city, said that “Konya is a grand and great city”. When he said this, he was unaware that the city would be remembered with him in the future, and he underlined how bright and magnificent Konya’s past was before him.
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The famous traveler Evliya Çelebi, pointed out in his book called “Seyehatname” that “7 types of wheat are grown in Konya. There is a good kind of wheat called thistle, which only grows around Damascus. It is a city with plenty of grain and grass and very fertile fields”. He also underlined that it was the heart of agriculture in the past centuries.
How does the Turkish poet and novelist Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar describe Konya in his lines as; “Konya resembles the people of Central Anatolia with a strong spirit, who likes to live on their own, unpretentious on the outside, and rich inside. In order to catch it, you have to mix well with its hours and seasons.”
Today, the city carries the “Capital” experience of its past on its shoulders like a rank, while being open to all the developments of the age, it strives to stand out in every field from culture to art, from gastronomy to trade, from industry to science.
As in Tanpınar’s verses, Konya presents its wealth, which is overflowing in every field, to the service of humanity with an elegant and unpretentious presentation without losing its Seljuks side which creates its dignified manner.
Everyone who visits this city finds a part of the city as if it was always here, and when leaving the city, they take different parts of Konya in their heart.
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There is a KONYA that is told outside and there is a completely different KONYA that is lived inside.
Konya is a sooty but bright light leaking from the back rooms of history.
Konya is a secret relic hidden in a thousand bundles.
For people who know the secrets of this city, Konya is like the sound of an echoing river cascading far away.
KONYA is the Mysterious City of Dervish...
Coming to Konya means knowing the secrets.