Konya/Iconium

On our drive from Pamukkale to Konya, we passed by Lake Eğirdir.

By Michelle Curtis

Yesterday we drove across rolling hills, through fertile fields, and past sparking lakes, beautiful red rocks, and snow-capped mountains, on our way to Konya (ancient Iconium). The beautiful countryside seemed as if it would go on forever until suddenly we came over a hill and Konya, a city of 1.2 million people, lay before us, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Konya from our bus--though this picture fails to capture it, the skyline was dotted with far more mosque minarets than we've seen in other city skylines.

Cenk informed us that Konya is one of the most conservative cities in Turkey, and I felt that in many ways from the vast predominance of headscarves among the women to the loud call to prayer that drifted through our hotel window at 4:15am this morning (a full two hours before the rooster’s crow came mutedly through the then closed window!).

Women in head scarves working hard at tearing out the grass that has started to creep up through the pavement at the Mevlana Cultural Center in Konya where we learned more about the famous Whirling Dervishes.

Backbreaking and tedious work in hot clothing

 St. Paul's church steeple

It was amazing to catch a tiny glimpse of the rich religious history of Konya during our short stay there. In the first century, when it was called Iconium, Paul and Barnabas visited there on the first missionary journey (Acts 14). As Cenk reminded us—one sentence is 92 miles of walking from Psidian Antioch (where we were yesterday) to Iconium/Konya. While we completed the trip in a few short hours on our comfortable bus, Paul and Barnabas would have spent many days walking. I imagine they knew this beautiful land of Anatolia quite well. The remains of the church they founded are small, but we did drive past the only church of Konya today (that our guide knows about)—St. Paul’s church, which is only about 30 people.  

 

Michelle taking studious notes at the center.

But Christian history is only a small piece of Konya’s history. It was also the capitol of the Seljuk Empire (the Seljuk period was 1071-1300). The Seljuks are a Turkic people who were already Muslim when they came to this region in the eleventh century. Today, Konya is well known as the birth place of the Whirling Dervishes (a Sufi Muslim sect) founded there during the Seljuk period. Mevlana, the founder, came to Konya with his father, a sultan, in the thirteenth century. On the basis of philosophy, Mevlana believed that everything in the universe is turning, and this led him to create a tradition of meditation through turning. This became the Whirling Dervish sect—an extremely tolerant sect of love, music, purity, and decency. They believe “the whole meaning of the Koran comes down to decency.”

The Museum of the Whirling Dervishes

 

Figures inside the museum to help visitors imagine life inside the monastery

Today we visited the museum to the Whirling Dervishes (the fourth most visited site in Turkey!), a thirteenth century monastery that was converted into a museum during the 1920s when Turkey became secular. There we learned about Whirling Dervish life during the time they lived in the monastery.

 

Cenk demonstrating the hands and posture for us at Mevlana Cutural Center.

The Whirling Dervishes dedicate their lives to God’s messages. Their ceremony of whirling represents this: right hand raised to heaven to receive a message from the Creator and left hand facing the earth to give this message to the people. And all the while, they turn like the stars. All of their ceremonies finish with a special prayer for all the prophets (including Moses and Jesus) because they are the real messengers. Cenk made very clear that these ceremonies (not performances) are meditations, not dances. And we are very much looking forward to seeing one tomorrow night!

In the past, Whirling Dervish ceremonies were not a public spectacle. The Dervishes earned their living through begging. But now, begging is illegal in Turkey, so along with working other jobs such as clerks or waiters, the Dervishes earn part of their living through allowing tourists like us to pay to witness their ceremonies. Today Whirling Dervishes exist throughout the world. Many benefit from the wisdom of their founder Mevlana (the book of Rumi contains some of his teaching) and both Sunni and Shia Muslims respect him. Around the cultural center built to commemorate Mevlana, it has a quote from him in more languages than I could count: “Either seem as you are or be as your seem.”

Michelle takes a picture of the words at the Mevlana Cultural Center

 

It is amazing to me to pass through a city with such rich religious history of which I’m sure Paul’s journeys and the birth of the Whirling Dervishes are only tiny pieces. To me, Konya is a reminder of Turkey’s incredible diversity, both past and present. After being in the modern, liberal city of Izmir last weekend, where my host spoke perfect English and knew far more about American TV and movies than my roommate and I put together, Konya almost felt like a different country. And even this one city has provided a home for many different empires, religions, and people groups throughout its history. It gave birth to the Whirling Dervishes, who offer an opposite extreme to the fundamentalist sects of Islam that we generally hear about on the news. It reminds me that countries, religions, and people groups are complex, so I must be careful about how I generalize about them.

To commemorate a philosopher and a sect that values transparency, the center was appropriately surrounded by clear fountains of water. Our students' shadows cast reflections as they pass by