Konya

Under a cone roof of green tiles lie the coffins of Rumi, his family and disciples. The building was the order's lodge, so dervish cells and the kitchen now hold displays. Fridays and weekends are packed, and the aisle past the tombs creeps along single file.

Dervishes in white skirts turn in prayer, one palm raised to the sky and the other to the earth. It is worship, not a show, so there is no clapping while they turn and no flash. In the December anniversary week tickets go quickly; get them well ahead.

A round hill in the heart of Konya crowned by the Seljuk-era Alaeddin Mosque. Inside is a forest of wooden columns; the sultans' tombs are grouped in the courtyard. Its slopes are parkland, and in the evening families come out and fill the tea gardens.

Founded in 1251 by the Seljuk vizier Karatay as a theological school, now a tile museum. Star patterns in deep blue and white tiles cover the inner dome, and a pool beneath its oculus mirrors the sky. The building is small; thirty minutes is plenty.

A theological school of 1264, known for a portal where Arabic script is woven into carved bands round the door. Lightning struck the slender minaret behind the name in 1901, snapping its top, so it stands short now. Inside is a stone and woodwork museum.

A valley village 8 kilometres out to the northwest, shared with Greek neighbours until the 1920s. The Byzantine church of Aya Elenia is restored and open, and rock-cut chapels watch from the slope. At weekends Konya families drive out for breakfast.

A Neolithic settlement of some 9,000 years ago, doorless houses packed like honeycomb and entered through the roof; UNESCO listed it in 2012. Big shelters roof the trenches. Driving from Konya takes nearly an hour, and public transport is poor.

A Byzantine settlement hollowed into a rocky hill near Gokyurt village, where a cross-shaped chapel carved out of one boulder survives. Rock-cut rooms run on like Cappadocia's, with far fewer visitors. No shade exists up there, so carry a good supply of water.

Completed in 1299 beside Lake Beysehir, about forty cedar columns under a painted timber ceiling. UNESCO inscribed it in 2023 with the wooden hypostyle mosques of medieval Anatolia. Konya is roughly ninety minutes away by car, so pair it with the lake.

An old market spread through the lanes west of the Mevlana Museum, selling prayer beads, dervish hats and carpets to pilgrims. Further in, smithies and saddlers that serve local people hang on. Many shops shut for a while during Friday prayers.

A glasshouse opened in 2015 where thousands of butterflies flit among tropical plants. Through a window you can watch adults emerging from chrysalises. The air inside is steamy, so leave your coat at the desk.

A small mosque and tomb honouring Shams Tabrizi, Rumi's teacher. It lies a few minutes north of the Mevlana Museum on foot, with a steady trickle of pilgrims. Where he truly lies is disputed with Khoy in Iran.

Rebuilt in the 1870s amid the bazaar, it mixes in baroque touches and looks nothing like Konya's Seljuk buildings. Its minarets end in balconies with little roofs. Local sweet shops crowd the surrounding lanes.

A Seljuk caravanserai of 1229 on the road from Konya to Aksaray, among the largest in Anatolia. Fine stone carving frames its gateway. At the courtyard's centre a small prayer room sits raised on arches.

Nasreddin Hodja, hero of countless jokes, lies at Aksehir to the west. His tomb is open on every side, yet it has a single gate with a padlock, a joke in his own spirit. A festival in his honour is held there every July.