South Central Anatolia Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

38°21′0″N 34°3′0″E

Map of South Central Anatolia

• 37.87276932.4921391 Konya has the site of Rumi's mausoleum, and many beautiful Seljuk monuments.
• 37.18333333.2166672 Karaman has an old citadel, and is a stopover between Konya, Adana, and the ferry port for Northern Cyprus.
• 38.368634.02973 Aksaray has many medieval mosques and monuments.
• 38.722535.48754 Kayseri is a large city near Mount Erciyes, a winter sports resort.
• 38.94055634.55755 Hacıbektaş has the shrine of Hacı Bektaş Veli, a 13th century Sufi saint.
• 39.14534.1616 Kırşehir is a large modern city with several antiquities.
• 37.96734.6797 Niğde is near Gümüşler Monastery, carved from the bedrock.

Cappadocia is the big tourist draw for its surreal landscape:

• 38.62534.7122228 Nevşehir is the chief city of Cappadocia.
• 38.64305634.8288899 Göreme is the main tourist base, amidst a rich landscape of fairy chimneys and rock churches.
• Nearby villages include Uçhisar, Ürgüp and Avanos.
• 38.27722234.37194410 Güzelyurt is an outlier, near Ihlara Valley.

• 37.667532.8283331 Çatalhöyük dating from 7500 BC is one of the earliest known towns, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

South Central Anatolia is a geographical region of Turkey, not precisely defined but here taken to mean the cities and provinces of Konya, Karaman, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Nevşehir and Kayseri. It excludes the coast further south and cities such as Ankara and Kırıkkale further north.

It's mostly a semi-arid plateau. There are mountains and valleys aplenty but overall no great natural barriers to transport, so many armies and cultures have swept across it. Those that have left their mark include the Hittites, Romans / Byzantines, Seljuks, Ottomans and modern tourists. The biggest tourist draw is Cappadocia, where soft volcanic rock has been weathered into fantastical landscapes, and hollowed out into dwellings, castles and entire cities. Another must-see is Konya for its Seljuk architecture. Frequent earthquakes mean that old buildings don't survive here unless continually repaired / rebuilt, so most cities are modern, but Konya has a concentration that have been preserved. And who could resist visiting a place whose centrepiece is Aladdin's Hill, which acts as a roundabout for the local trams.

Konya, Nevşehir and Kayseri airports have daily flights from Istanbul (mostly from IST ^IATA, less frequently from SAW ^IATA).

Highways all over the country are in good condition, and this region is no exception. Buses connect the cities with the rest of Turkey.

YHT high speed trains run from Istanbul and Ankara to Konya and Karaman. The line east of Karaman has slow trains to Adana, and even slower engineering works to upgrade it to high speed. Kayseri has slow trains between Ankara and eastern Turkey.

Buses and dolmuşes link the region's towns, and car hire is readily available.

• Byzantine heritage: mostly religious architecture — churches and monasteries — out in the countryside near Konya, Karaman, Aksaray, Niğde, and Cappadocia.
• Seljuk heritage: Rumi's tomb and numerous mosques in Konya, as well as caravanserais and other mosques in Aksaray and Kayseri.
• Cappadocia has a surreal landscape of "fairy chimneys" - columns and pinnacles weathered into strange shapes. Some large formations have been carved out into dwellings, and there are complete underground cities.
• Nature views: mostly of volcanic origins, Lake Meke east of Konya and Salt Lake north of Aksaray.

• Skiing in Mt Erciyes near Kayseri.
• Hamams - traditional Turkish public baths - are found in several towns.
• "Dancing dervish" displays are put on at Mevlana Lodge in Konya.

• Cuisine is home-grown, with dozens of ways of oxidising a sheep, and there's little international fare. However at least in tourist towns such as in Cappadocia, many restaurants can cater to veggie and GF diets.

• Wine is produced on the volcanic soils of Cappadocia.
• Cafes and restaurants often serve alcohol, but this fairly conservative region has few free-standing pubs.
• Drink lots of water especially if you're out hiking.

• North Central Anatolia to the north and east: Ankara is the highlight.
• Mediterranean Turkey to the south has a mostly rocky coast, with sandy stretches such as Antalya heavily developed for tourism.
• The Lakes District to the west is an area of rugged hills and traditional small towns.