My son and I embarked on a journey across Anatolia in May of 2022 and this is my attempt to capture the essence of the trip to help others who wish to plan similar trips.There are so many travel guides and my purpose is not to describe touristic highlights. Yet, I want to share what impressed us the most as well as share our resources. In a nutshell we visited 7 cities, across 2000 miles, with 12,000 years of history.
We started in Konya and visited Rumi's tomb. Then we explored landmarks of the old Seljuk Empire. The next day, we drove to Catalhoyuk, a 9,500 years old Neolithic city. We took the fast train from Konya to Ankara and drove to Bogazkoy next day to visit major cities of the ancient Hittite Empire, like Hattusas, Yazilikaya, and Alacahoyuk. Back in Ankara, we visited the Anatolian Civilizations Museum, Anitkabir, Haci Bayram Veli and Temple of Augustus before we flew to Mardin in southeastern Turkey. Driving along the Syrian border, we went to Nusaybin and Midyat, visiting major Syrian Orthodox monasteries and the Ancient city of Dara outside of Mardin. We drove to Diyarbakir and on the way we stopped at Zerzevan Castle and the Mithras temple. From Diyarbakir, we drove to Urfa and visited the cave where it's said Abraham was born, as well as Balikli Gol. There we joined a tour to visit Urfa museum, Gobeklitepe, Karahantepe, Nemrut mountain, Sogmatar temple and Sin (Moon) temple in Harran which wrapped up our trip and we flew back to Istanbul.
First of all, there are no organized tours to cover a wide range like this, but you can organize it all yourself with a little effort. I organized pretty much all tickets, hotels and city tours, except for the last tour on the final 2 days. We couldn’t have covered all of southeastern Turkey on our own otherwise.
Konya
Our first stop was Rumi's tomb in Konya. We wanted to start our trip paying our respects to the great 13th century poet, Islamic scholar and Sufi mystic. Rumi crosses cultural, national and religious boundaries: Love and to be of service to the whole of creation without discrimination against beliefs, races, classes and nations. His presence is still palpable in the whole city.
What impressed me the most in Konya was the Sufi symbolism of Universe reflected in architecture of Karatay Madrasa. Madrasa is a university or an institute for higher education, a number of legendary scholars were raised in the Karatay Madrasa in Konya. Built in 1251, but currently a museum, Karatay is also a masterpiece of Seljuk architecture with its dome .
The dome symbolizes the sky and the universe, while the pool under the dome symbolizes the underground and the walls symbolize the earth. The dome or universal tent extends to the four corners of the universe and are supported on the five pillars. The aim was to create a decorative illusion that corresponds to the mystical experience and became a portal for the sun gate leading to the heavens as seen by Sufi mysticism.
Double headed eagle, also a symbol in Sumerians and Hittites as early as the late Bronze Age and later in the Byzantine Empire, is also the symbol of Seljuk Empire. It symbolizes looking out to and ruling both the East and the West. Mosaics and glazed tiles reflect exquisite Sufi mysticism and symbolism as well.
Here is a list of places of interest in Konya for our future reference. Hope we can visit this magnificent city again one day.
Rumi's tomb and Museum/ Mevlananin mezarı ve Kultur merkezi
Sems-iTebrizi Mosque/ Sems’in mezarı & Camii
Atelier of a local Felt artist Celaleddin Berberoğlu Kece Atolyesi (Destegül)
Iplikci Mosque/Cami Sadirvani
Serafettin Mosque/Camii
Aziziye Mosque/Camii
Alaaddin Mound and Mosque/Alaadddin tepesi
Karatay Madrasa/ Medrese
Ince Minare Mosque/ Cami,
Arkeoloji Museum/Muze
Bedesten Bazaar/Carsi
Panorama Miniature Museum/Muze
Veterans Memorial/Savas Gazileri Aniti ve Muzesi
In the vicinity, there were places we couldn’t visit, including tombs of other Sufi saints : Seyh Sadrettin Konevi Turbesi, Tavus Baba Turbesi, and Atesbaz Veli Turbesi (Meram).
There are authentic restaurants in the historic Mengüç Caddesi/Street, and Safran Restaurant is highly recommended in the city center.
Catalhoyuk dates back to 7,500 BC and is the oldest Neolithic human settlement in Turkey, having 10,000 inhabitants in its day. It's only 45 minutes from Konya but unfortunately there is no easy way to get there. You need to take a taxi or a transfer service. We had a private tour arranged for Catalhoyuk which picked us up from our hotel, and afterwards our guide gave us another city tour in Konya even though it was not included. He did not want to let us go without telling us every bit of information about Konya and we were so grateful!
The ancient city of Catalhoyuk is made of mud-brick houses built over centuries. Apparently a mud-brick home survives for 80-100 year only. As one house collapsed, they built another one on top. The houses were closely packed together and clustered in a honeycomb-like maze and the entrance was from the roof. It's very touching to see the handprints on the walls from 9,500 years ago.
James Mellart, the archaeologist who discovered Catalhoyuk in 1950's, believes that religion was central to lives of the people of Catalhoyuk. He concluded they worshiped a mother goddess, based on the large number of female figures, the most famous of which illustrates a large woman seated in between two large felines.
Human burials were placed underneath sleeping platforms inside houses. So basically, you’re sleeping over your grandma and grandpa. You can see very creative neolithic artwork, including the artwork that depicts a nearby volcano erupting.
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| A Neolithic home |
I'm very impressed with the fast train experience from Konya to Ankara. It's 250 km/hour and reaches Ankara in 1.5 hours. There is high speed internet, free sandwich and snack service and all is less than $10; plus you see the beautiful Konya plateau, and all the greenery of magnificent Anatolia. It's just that the ticket reservations are available only 2 weeks prior to the trip,
Next: Ankara and Hattusa
Mother Goddess
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