Konya: The Mevlana Daily Konya Spiritual Tour with Mevlana Rumi Museum from Istanbul

05:30 AM — Hotel Pick-Up: Your private air-conditioned vehicle arrives at your Istanbul hotel lobby. Your driver and/or guide will be waiting with a name board.

Transfer to Istanbul Airport (IST) or Sabiha Gökcen Airport (SAW) depending on your flight routing. Journey time varies by your hotel location (typically 30–60 min).

07:10 AM — Domestic Flight to Konya: Board your included round-trip domestic flight. Flight time is approximately 1 hour.

08:10 AM — Arrival at Konya Airport: Your licensed English-speaking guide meets you at arrivals. Your Konya exploration begins immediately.

First Stop: The Mevlana Museum is the spiritual centrepiece of the entire tour — and one of Turkey's most visited and revered sites. Here lies the tomb of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, the 13th-century Sufi mystic whose poetry and philosophy has moved hearts across centuries and continents.

Originally a dervish lodge (tekke), the complex was converted into a museum in 1927. The iconic turquoise fluted dome — one of Anatolia's most recognised silhouettes — rises above the mausoleum housing Rumi's sarcophagus alongside those of his father Baha ud-Din Walad and other dervishes.

What you'll visit inside:

• Mevlana's Mausoleum (Türbe) with its iconic silver threshold
• Sema Hall — the ceremonial hall of the Whirling Dervishes
• Matbah — the original dervish kitchen
• Tilavet Chamber — Quran recitation room
• Dervish Cells — intimate monks' quarters
• Historical manuscripts, calligraphy & Islamic artefacts
• Rumi's personal belongings and clothing

Located directly adjacent to the Mevlana Museum, Selimiye Mosque is an elegant example of classical Ottoman architecture built during the reign of Sultan Selim II. Its single pencil minaret, graceful dome, and refined stonework offer a compelling visual contrast to the Seljuk style seen later in the tour.

Your guide will explain the transition from Seljuk to Ottoman mosque design — a fascinating architectural conversation in stone. The mosque remains an active place of worship, and you may witness midday prayers.

Enjoy a full sit-down traditional Turkish lunch at a carefully selected local restaurant known for authentic Konya cuisine. Konya is celebrated throughout Turkey for its distinctive culinary traditions.

Signature Konya dishes to expect:

• Etli Ekmek — thin, metre-long flat bread topped with minced meat, a Konya speciality
• Konya Tandır — slow-roasted lamb, uniquely tender and fragrant
• Bamya Çorbası — traditional okra soup
• Kadayıf or Lokum for dessert

A scenic panoramic drive through the lush district of Meram — Konya's most picturesque escape. Known since Seljuk times as a garden paradise, Meram has inspired poets and mystics for centuries. Even Mevlana Rumi himself wrote fondly of Meram's beauty in his verses.

Your guide will narrate the area's historical and literary significance while you take in the greenery, vineyards, and old stone villas that characterise this tranquil corner of Konya.

Visit the sacred Tavusbaba Tomb, believed to belong to Sheikh Tavus Mehmet El Hindi — a revered Sufi saint who lived and taught during the Seljuk period. The peacock-themed iconography (tavus = peacock in Turkish) adorning the site reflects Sufi traditions of beauty and divine reflection.

This small but deeply atmospheric site remains an active pilgrimage point for local Muslims and spiritually inclined travellers alike. It is a quiet, contemplative space — a perfect counterpoint to the larger, busier sites of the day.

Built in 1251 CE by Celaleddin Karatay, a senior statesman of the Seljuk Sultan Keykavus II, the Karatay Madrasah is one of the finest surviving examples of Anatolian Seljuk architecture. Now serving as the Tile and Ceramics Museum, it houses an extraordinary collection of 13th-century turquoise, dark blue, and black star-shaped tiles.

The central domed hall is breathtaking — the interior dome is decorated with a radiating pattern of blue and black tiles forming the names of Allah, the Prophet, and the four caliphs. The transition from the square base to the circular dome via carved muqarnas (honeycomb vaulting) is a masterpiece of Islamic geometry.

• World-class Seljuk faience tile collection
• Monumental carved stone portal (taçkapı)
• Original marble mihrab (prayer niche)
• Geometric calligraphy in the dome inscriptions

The Ince Minaret Medrese ("Madrasa of the Slender Minaret") is widely considered the most architecturally dramatic building in Konya. Commissioned in 1265 CE by the Seljuk vizier Sahip Ata Fahreddin Ali, the entry portal is a cascading explosion of Quranic calligraphy and interlaced geometric carvings — one of the most elaborate stone portals in all of Islamic architecture.

The minaret itself, struck by lightning in 1901, survives only to mid-height — yet the remaining stump, clad in turquoise and dark blue tiles in a double-spiral pattern, is still remarkably beautiful. Inside, the museum displays an exceptional collection of Seljuk stone reliefs, wooden minbars (pulpits), and carved door panels.

• Monumental double-entry portal — the most ornate in Turkey
• Cascading calligraphic stone carvings
• Remnant tiled minaret with geometric tile patterns
• Carved wooden mihrab panels and Seljuk doors
• Stone reliefs depicting figures, eagles, and arabesque motifs

The final major stop crowns Alaaddin Hill at the very centre of Konya — a hill that has been continuously settled for over 9,000 years. The Alaaddin Mosque is the largest and oldest surviving mosque of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate. Construction began under Sultan Mesud I (r. 1116–1156) and was completed under the great Sultan Alaaddin Keykubat I (r. 1220–1237), after whom it is named.

The mosque's unusual hypostyle plan — a forest of 42 ancient Roman and Byzantine columns repurposed from earlier ruins — creates an atmosphere unlike any Ottoman mosque. Eight royal mausoleums behind the mosque contain the sarcophagi of Seljuk Sultans, including Keykubat himself.

• 42 ancient columns with varied Roman-Byzantine capitals
• Original 13th-century carved wooden minbar
• Royal Seljuk Sultans' mausoleums (türbeler)
• Panoramic views over Konya from Alaaddin Hill
• Remnants of the Seljuk palace complex

Transfer to Konya Airport. 22:50 PM — Flight from Konya to Istanbul (times may vary by season and availability).

~00:20 AM — Arrival at Istanbul. Our representative meets you at arrivals and transfers you back to your hotel. End of an unforgettable day.