Konya

A pilgrim's weekend between the Green Dome and Alaaddin Hill

Two days cover Konya's essentials. Spend the first morning at the Mevlana Museum, where Rumi lies beneath the green dome, then the Selimiye and İplikçi mosques and Alaaddin Hill, with a Saturday-evening sema at the Mevlana Cultural Centre. Give the second morning to the Seljuk museums around the hill, starting with the İnce Minareli Medrese.

Start the first morning at the Mevlana Museum when it opens at 09:00, before the coach groups. Inside the former dervish lodge, the sarcophagus of Rumi lies beneath the green dome, with displays of manuscripts, musical instruments and dervish robes in the side halls. Step next door into the Ottoman Selimiye Mosque, finished in 1567, then walk west along Mevlana Caddesi to the brick İplikçi Mosque of 1202, one of the oldest buildings in the city.

After lunch, carry on to Alaaddin Hill. The Alaeddin Mosque on its summit was the Seljuk sultans' own mosque, and the surrounding park is where Konya families stroll in the late afternoon. Spend the evening at the Mevlana Cultural Centre if a sema is on; it is traditionally held on Saturday evenings.

Give the second morning to the Seljuk museums ringing the hill. The İnce Minareli Medrese, named for its slender minaret, holds the stone and wood carving museum, and its portal alone justifies the visit. The Karatay Medrese nearby has a dome lined with blue and black tilework and a tile museum. In the afternoon, take tram line 2 back east or ride out to Meram for tea among the gardens. If you have a car, the Neolithic mound of Çatalhöyük, a UNESCO site, is about an hour south-east and fills a half day well. Many travellers continue to Cappadocia by road afterwards.

Tandır ovens, etliekmek and Konya sarması

Order tandır kebap first in Konya: lamb cooked for hours in a wood-fired pit oven, sold by the lokantas on and behind Mevlana Caddesi from late morning until it runs out. Etliekmek, the long thin meat flatbread, comes from fırın restaurants, and Konya sarması, tiny vine leaves cooked in butter, is the dish to finish on.

The plain around the city grows wheat and grazes sheep, and the kitchen follows. The dish to order first is tandır kebap: lamb cooked for hours in a wood-fired pit oven until it falls from the bone, served on thin bread. The lokantas on and behind Mevlana Caddesi serve it from late morning, and the best sell out by mid afternoon.

Etliekmek is the local flatbread, rolled very long and thin, topped with minced meat and baked fast; a cheese version exists for those who want it. Order it at a fırın restaurant where you can watch the ovens. Bamya çorbası, a soup of tiny okra and meat soured with pomegranate molasses, appears on wedding menus and in traditional restaurants. Another old dish is tirit, bread soaked in broth with lamb and yoghurt.

Look too for Konya sarması, vine leaves rolled very small around minced meat, bulgur and rice and cooked in butter. For something sweet, order sac arası, thin pastry layered with kaymak and soaked in syrup, or buy a bag of gevrek, short loaves seeded with sesame and fennel, for the train. Tea is drunk everywhere and constantly. Wine and beer are uncommon, so plan on ayran with lunch.

December's Şeb-i Arûs and the cold season around it

Konya's big event is Şeb-i Arûs, the anniversary of Rumi's death on 17 December 1273, marked with sema performances at the Mevlana Cultural Centre through December. Expect highs near 6C and the year's wettest month then. For sightseeing on foot, May (23C), June (27C) and September (27C) are more comfortable.

Rumi died on 17 December 1273, and his followers call that night Şeb-i Arûs, the wedding night, because they see death as union with God. The city marks it each December with ceremonies at the Mevlana Cultural Centre that build towards the anniversary, with sema performances as often as twice a day. Our Mevlana Whirling Dervishes Festival page covers the programme.

December is also cold. Average highs are only about 6C and lows about minus 2C, and it is the wettest month, with around 46mm of rain or snow. Pack a proper coat for the walk back from the evening ceremonies. January and February are colder still, which is why the city is quiet after the festival ends.

The warmer months are better for sightseeing on foot. May averages 23C by day and June 27C, while July and August hit 31C with almost no rain. September cools to 27C and October to 20C. Weekly Saturday sema performances continue outside December, so a spring or autumn trip still includes the ceremony, just without the crowds. Konyaspor home matches in the Süper Lig at the 42,000-seat Konya Büyükşehir Stadium are a different kind of evening out in the football season.