This morning we walked around the old part of the city of Konya where we visited 3 museums and one mosque. The air was heavy with smog. While Konya does use some natural gas, the city and its inhabitants still burn coal as well. The air here was bad enough to cause breathing problems for 2 of our group.
Our first stop was the Karatay Tile Museum. Built originally as a religious school for boys, it now houses a collection of tile from when the first Turks invaded Anatolia (the geographical name for Turkey). Colors most used in the tiles were blue, turquoise, black (for outlining), and eggplant. Since blues and greens are my favorite colors, I thoroughly enjoyed all that I saw here. Our guide pointed out the distinctive Turkish arches, with a point at the top—not rounded like the Roman arches.
He also called our attention to the drawings of people and animals on the tiles—apparently a “no no” in the Koran. At his direction, we also noted the 8-pointed stars and the crosses used with them to tessellate the tile pictures.
Next on our itinerary was the Ince Minare Museum of Stone and Wood carving. I particularly liked the intricate carvings on the wooden doors.
The Arabic script carved into many of the stones also appealed to me with its fluidity.
Next we visited a mosque—very old and recently restored. Only the pulpit remains from the original furnishings.
The walls are painted to reproduce the effect that the original (unrecovered) tiles had here.
After my musings on head coverings yesterday evening, I had an opportunity here to ponder even more. We asked a woman when we entered if we needed to cover our heads. She told us no. However, as we were putting our shoes on the shoe shelf inside, the attendant of the mosque walked over to us with scarves for our heads.
We learned that in Turkey, women are supposed to get to choose whether or not to wear a head covering. How does a foreigner show respect for the culture and the religious beliefs and at the same time stand in solidarity with her global sisters?Our next stop and last museum for the day was the Mevlana Museum where the Muslim mystic Rumi is buried. Some people came here to view the museum while others came to pray. The atmosphere was contemplative. The walls in the area which housed Rumi’s mausoleum were decorated in blue, red, and green painted tiles with beautiful Arabic script. The last room of the museum housed a collection of Korans with gilt calligraphy lettering and brightly painted illustrations.
Today’s lunch was the best yet. (We have been treated to the very best food in Turkey these 2 weeks.) The okra soup tasted like a delicious vegetable or minestrone broth with a hint of lemon. The okra was not slimy. We had grape leaves wrapped around a beefy filling, and another dessert with water buffalo cream. Our guide said this restaurant is the only place that serves this dessert. Even knowing I would never be able to eat this again, I could not eat all of my meal—too much!
On the way from the restaurant to the bus we stopped at a shop where 2 of our group bought Turkish carpets—one a kilim and the other a wool on cotton.
We headed away from Konya and further into the interior, central part of Turkey. About halfway to our destination of Urgup, we stopped at the Sultanhani Caravanserai. It is a large, rectangular structure of outer walls and a big door.
Inside is a courtyard.
On one side is one long porch where cooking, mending, and other chores could be done.
On the other side was a series of rooms where people could spend the night.
In the middle of the courtyard was a small room that was used as a mosque—for prayers.
Directly across the courtyard from the gate was the camel serai—the huge barn for the camels.
Built at the direction of the sultans, the caravanserais were safe places for caravans to stop and stay the night as they traveled across Anatolia on the spice and silk trade routes.
Upon arriving in Urgup, we found our hotel and rooms to be the nicest yet—and that is saying a lot! In particular, the air is clear here, the rooms are cool—no opening windows because the furnace is blasting and we cannot figure out how to turn it down or off, the rooms are large, and the beds are “just right.”
Other Konya and caravanserai pictures
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