Konya

It was gifted by Sultan Aleaddin Keykubad to Mevlana’s father, Sultanül Ulema Bahaeddin Veled. Before this this place had been a Rose Garden of Seljuk palace. When Sultanül Ulema Bahaeddin Ulema died in January 12 1231 he was buried in its present place in the tomb the courtyard of museum. It can be entered though Dervişhan Gate. In the courtyard here are many dervish cells, Sinan Pasha, Hasan Pasha and Fatma Hatun tombs and whirling area. In the museum handwritten books, plates, oil lamps, musical instruments and works belonging to Mevlana and Mevlevism are exhibited. Specialized library in the museum was founded in 1846 by Mehmed Said Hemdem Çelebi. There are 4 thousand manuscripts in 2756 volumes belonging to Seljuks, Karamanoğulları and Ottoman periods in the library. Other valuable artifacts in museum are as follows; Mevlana’s sarcophagus, Mevlana’s grave cover, Mesnevi, Nisan/Rain Bowl.

According to its inscriptions, it was built by Anatolian Selçuk Sultan Aleaddin Keykubad I in 1229. Its architect is Muhammed Havlan who also built the Konya Aleaddin Mosque. It was used both as a stop place for crowded caravans and as a military base at one time. Today it used as a museum. There is a monumental crown gate made of marble on the east side. After the door it is passing to corridor in the shape of porch. There are eleven rooms on the east side of courtyard. Two of the rooms have been converted into three-section bath and a ware house. The closed winter part of the inn reached by passing through a second crown gate. This crown gate also has same architectural and decorative features as the exterior. It is the most spectacular example of Anatolian Selçuk caravanserais.

Sille has been inhabited since Phrygians and has been important settlement of Konya since Byzantine period and an important stopping point in pilgrimage route between İstanbul and Jerusalem. Today it is a neighborhood. Most of the hills around Sille are made of tuff. In Byzantine period this hills were easily carved and chapels were created for Christians to hide and worship. In the studies on where the name came from there some ideas such as it came from Silene during the Phrygians, it came from Roman commander Sylla, it came from Silenos. Silenos means ‘water that boils and flows.’ During the Ottoman period while Turks and Greek lived together, the population increased to 18000 but the Greeks migrated to Greece with the populations exchange, a quite life began in Sille.

It was put into service in 2015 and with its 1600 square meter butterfly flight area, it is the largest in Europe and one of the few in the world. It offers a natural habitat for approximately 10 thousand butterflies of 45 different species from tropical countries and there are approximately 20 thousand plants belonging to 98 species along with different animal species. In the butterfly garden which has a tropical climate, temperature is kept constant at 28 degrees and the humidity at 80 percent.