Biblical Tours

St.Paul Tour 15 Days

St.Paul Tour 13 Days

St.Paul Tour 10 Days

Seven Churches Tour 4 Days

Seven Churches + Istanbul Tour 7 Days

Christian Tour Turkey 14 Days

Anatolia Tour 10 Days

Blacksea Highlights 9 Days

Anatolia Tour 9 Days

Capadocia Tour 4 Days

Aegen Tour 7 Days

Aegean Tour 5 Days

St. Paul Tour 10 Days

Iconium (Konya)

Konya, also spelled in some historic English texts as Konia or Koniah, was known in classical antiquity and during the medieval period as Iconium in Latin, and Ἰκόνιον (Ikónion) in Greek. The name Konya is a cognate of icon, as an ancient Greek legend ascribed its name to the "eikon" (image), or the "gorgon's (Medusa's) head", with which Perseus vanquished the native population before founding the city

Excavations have shown that the region was inhabited during the Late Copper Age, around 3000 BC. The city came under the influence of the Hittites around 1500 BC. These were overtaken by the Sea Peoples around 1200 BC. The Phrygians established their kingdom in central Anatolia in the 8th century BC. Xenophon describes Iconium, as the city was called, as the last city of Phrygia. The region was overwhelmed by Cimmerian invaders c. 690 BC. It was later part of the Persian Empire, until Darius III was defeated by Alexander the Great in 333 BC. Alexander's empire broke up shortly after his death and the town came under the rule of Seleucus I Nicator. During the Hellenistic period the town was ruled by the kings of Pergamon. As Attalus III, the last king of Pergamon, was about to die without an heir, he bequeathed his kingdom to Rome. Under the rule of emperor Claudius, the city's name was changed to Claudioconium, and during the rule of emperor Hadrianus to Colonia Aelia Hadriana.

Saint Paul and Barnabas preached in Iconium during the First Missionary Journey in about 47-48 AD (see Acts 14:1-5 and Acts 14:21), and Paul and Silas probably visited it again during the Second Missionary Journey in about 50 (see Acts 16:2). In Christian legend, it was also the birthplace of Saint Thecla. During the Byzantine Empire the town was destroyed several times by Arab invaders in the 7th-9th centuries.

The city was conquered by the Seljuk Turks following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, and from 1097 to 1243 it was the capital of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate, though very briefly occupied by the Crusaders Godfrey of Bouillon (August 1097) and Frederick Barbarossa (May 18, 1190). The name of the town was changed to Konya by Rukn al-Dīn Mas'ūd in 1134.

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