Konya: Seljuk Medreses, Historic Mosques & Zazadin Han Caravanserai Tour

09:00 AM – 10:30 AM | Seljuk Medreses & Masterworks of Masonry

• Karatay Madrasah (Tile Works Museum): Built in 1251 AD by Vizier Karatay bin Abdullah (Mir Celalettin) during the reign of Izzeddin Keykavus II. Built with brick, smooth cut, and rubble stone using masonry techniques, it features a grand crown gate on the left façade leading to a closed courtyard. View excavated wall tiles, china, glass plates, oil lamps, and ceramics from Kubad-Âbad Palace (Lake Beyşehir) as well as Seljuk and Ottoman plaster artifacts.

• Thin Minaret (İnce Minareli) Madrasah: Built in 1254 AD by Seljuk Vizier Sahib Ata Fahreddin Ali and architect Kelük bin Abdullah to teach hadith. Admire its crown gate adorned with "Yasin" and "Fetih" suras written in Seljuk thuluth script among geometric and floral reliefs. See the brick base, 12-cornered body with turquoise blue glazed bricks, and learn how lightning destroyed it up to the first balcony in 1901.

10:30 AM – 11:45 AM | Alaaddin Hill, Alaaddin Mosque & Royal Tombs

• Alaaddin Hill: Explore this protohistoric settlement mound measuring $450 \times 350$ meters and standing 20 meters high. Learn about archaeological excavations by the Turkish Historical Society in 1941 confirming continuous habitation from the Early Bronze Age (c. 3000 BC) through the Phrygian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ottoman periods.

• Alaaddin Mosque & Royal Courtyard: Begun under Sultan Rükneddin Mesud I (1116–1156) and finished under Alaeddin Keykubad I (1221). Examine its timber-and-soil covered structure supported by over 40 Roman and Byzantine marble columns. Admire the ebony wood pulpit carved by Mengü Berti of Ahlat in 1155, the tile-decorated altar dome, and the builder inscription of Muhammed Bin Havlan al-Dımışkî. Visit the courtyard tombs containing 9 Seljuk Sultans (Mesud I, Kilicarslan II, Gıyâseddin Keyhüsrev I, Rükneddin Süleyman II, Izzeddin Kilicarslan III, Alâeddin Keykubad I, Giyâseddin Keyhüsrev II, Rukneddin Kilicarslan IV, and Giyâseddin Keyhüsrev III) and the unfinished tomb of Izzeddin Keykâvus I.

11:45 AM – 01:00 PM | Karamanid & Seljuk Religious Architecture

• Sırçalı Madrasah: Built in 1242 by Bedreddin Muhlis for fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) studies. Walk through this two-storey open-court madrasah with two iwans built of cut and rubble stone, which operated until 1924, and examine its rich collection of artistic gravestones.

• Sahip Ata Complex: Built on Larende Street between 1258 and 1283 AD (656H–682H) by Seljuk Vizier Hacı Ebubekir Zade Hüseyinoğlu Sahibi Ata Fahreddin Ali. Inspect the complex layout comprising a mosque, a northeast corner fountain, a tomb adjacent to the mihrab wall, an adjoining hankhah, eastern shops, and a double bathhouse across the road.

• Shazibey Masjeed (Ak Mosque): Built in 1429 during the Karamanids Principality using a single-domed masonry stone technique with a central system, featuring a minaret constructed with Umayyad Kufic design and wooden materials.

01:00 PM – 02:00 PM | Lunch Break

• Enjoy a traditional Konya lunch at a local restaurant in the historic district.

02:00 PM – 03:45 PM | Historic Ottoman Mosques & Bedesten Bazaar

• Iplikçi (Yarn Dealer) Mosque: Located on Alaeddin Street; built after 1201 by Şemseddin Altunaba and expanded/renovated in 1332 by Somuncu Ebubekir. Named after its position in the yarn market, it served as the Classical Works Museum from 1951 to 1960 before reopening for worship.

• Serafettin Mosque: Originally built in the 12th century by Sheikh Şerafettin, demolished and rebuilt in 1336 by Cavusoglu Mehmet Bey. Observe its central cut-stone dome supported by 10 massive piers ("elephant feet") and a southern half-dome, second-floor cellars, and exquisite marble embroidered mimbar and altar.

• Kapu (Gate) Mosque: Built near the old castle gate in 1658 by Mevlana's grandson Postnişin Hasanoğlu Şeyh Hüseyin Çelebi, rebuilt in 1811 by Mufti Seyyid Abdurrahman Effendi, and rebuilt a third time in 1868 after the 1867 fire. Examine its smooth cut-stone construction, 10-columned narthex with round arches, interior covered by 8 domes, plain wooden pulpit, and its 1812 western fountain.

• Aziziye Mosque: Originally built between 1671–1676 by Sheikh Ahmed, rebuilt in 1867 in Turkish Baroque style under Pertevniyal, mother of Sultan Abdulaziz. Admire its Gödene cut-stone walls, wide single dome, and twin minarets with fountain bases attached to its 3-domed narthex.

• Historical Bedesten (Covered Bazaar): Built in 1538 by Mevlana Kadri Çelebi (mufti and cadilesker under Suleiman the Magnificent). Explore this 9-unit classical bazaar recently restored by the Konya Metropolitan Municipality.

03:45 PM – 05:30 PM | Silk Road Exploration: Zazadin Han Caravanserai

• Transfer outside the city center to Zazadin Han Caravanserai, built in 1236 AD during the reign of Sultan Alaeddin Keykubat by Vizier Sadettin Köpek.

• Tour this rectangular $104 \times 62$ meter structure combining open summer courtyards and closed winter quarters. Inspect the exterior stone walls supported by square, polygonal, and cylindrical buttresses, corner towers, ancient pre-Islamic spolia stones embedded in the masonry, and numerous historic stonemason marks.

05:30 PM – 06:00 PM | Return & Drop-off

• Drive back to Konya city center with drop-off at your hotel or original departure point.