Urgup Tourism Travel Agency

Walk in the footsteps of the great Sufi mystic Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi, visit dervish lodges and Mevlana Museum, Selcuk mosques. Hacibektaş and Gulsehir

Day 1: Along the Silk Road to Konya (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
After breakfast at your hotel we pick you up and drive to Konya where we see the imposing green-tiled Mausoleum of Mevlana, Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi, the mystical poet of the Sufi branch of Islamic faith who inspired the organisation of the whirling dervishes order. Arriving in Konya, we check in at our hotel. After lunch we visit the Tomb of Rumi in the Mevlana Museum, an important place of pilgrimage for Muslims and indeed all lovers of Rumi. Nearby we visit the Sultan Selim mosque.

We drive along the main street of Konya, Mevlana Caddesi up to the Alaettin Hill (a prehistoric tumulus) to visit the 1000-year-old Aladdin Mosque, which crowns the hill and where Rumi often prayed. In its courtyard we can see the tombs of some of the Seljuk sultans who reigned during Rumi’s lifetime. We continue to walk in Rumi's footsteps as we pass the ruins of the Seljuk sultan’s palace, then admire the elaborate door to the  Great Karatay Medrese theological seminar after which we return to our hotel for dinner. Overnight in Konya.

Day 2: Konya Tour in the footsteps of Rumi (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
Today we visit some of the wonderful Seljuk monuments that Rumi would have known and may indeed have visited: we drive to the Seminary of the Slender Minaret (Ince Minare Medrese, 1264), a 13th-century restored theological college which now houses the Museum of Stone and Wooden Inscriptions, with works of art from the 1100s and later. We can also see the  Crystalline Medrese (Sircali Medrese, 1242) with its exquisite tiling and Quranic stone engraved calligraphy. The Sahip Ata Mosque Complex (1283), included a school, an inn for travellers, Turkish bath and the tomb of its founder, the Seljuk grand vizir who also built the Seminary of the Slender Minaret. Konya’s Archeological Museum hosts the marble high-relief sarcophagus “The Trials of Hercules” and many other historical artefacts from Konya. Lunch at a local restaurant.

After lunch we walk to the Mosque and Tomb of Sems-i Tebrizi, Rumi’s closest companion and the inspiration for many of his poetic and great mystical works. Overnight in Konya.

Day 3: Hacibektas and Cappadocia (breakfast, lunch)
In the morning, we drive to Hacibektas and visit the museum which was an Islamic monastery dating back to the 13th century. Haci Bektas Veli was a Muslim mystic and Sufi philosopher of the 13th century. After this we drive on to nearby Gulsehir where we visit the church of St. John which has beautifully restored frescoes on its walls and ceiling. After walking around fascinating landscape of Aciksaray we drive to Urgup for lunch at a local restaurant. We spend the afternoon with a visit to Goreme Open Air Museum. The churches and chapels in the Goreme Open Air Museum date from the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries.

Return and drop off to your hotel in Cappadocia.