Konya sept 19
A little while later we stopped at Konya. It is one of the more conservative religious city. There are 1 million people here and it has 1 university with 50000 students.
We saw huge grain fields all around this flat country. Flour mills abound near the city.
In Bible times Konya was known as Iconia. Paul came here with Barnabas and on to Lystra which is 25 miles south of Konya. So we can say we travelled the road of the first missionary journey. There is still a 6th century church in the city.
We stopped at a museum which is a mausoleum for the leader (Melvana) and many followers of the sect of the whirling dervish (Sema). The artifacts are from the 13th C. Melvana was the author of many philosophical book and thousands of books of poetry. Some of these are on display in this museum, along with some illuminated and beautiful scripted Korans. All the printing is Persian calligraphy and it looks gorgeous. The pages have ornate gold borders.
We couldn't take photos inside because of all the 'sacred' things.
Many devout were there as it was the end of Ramadan and a holiday.
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