Konya

Konya is believed to correspond to the Late Bronze Age toponym Ikkuwaniya known from Hittite records. This placename is regarded as Luwian in origin. During classical antiquity and the medieval period it was known as Ἰκόνιον (Ikónion) in Greek and as Iconium in Latin. A folk etymology holds that the name Ikónion was derived from εἰκών ('icon'), referring to an ancient Greek legend according to which the hero Perseus vanquished the native population with an image of the "Gorgon Medusa's head" before founding the city. Konya was known as Dârülmülk to the Rum Seljuks.

The Konya region has been inhabited since the third millennium BC and fell at different times under the rule of the Hittites, the Phrygians, the Greeks, the Persians and the Romans. In the 11th century the Seljuk Turks conquered the area and began ruling over its Rûm (Byzantine Greek) inhabitants, making Konya the capital of their new Sultanate of Rum. Under the Seljuks, the city reached the height of its wealth and influence. Following their demise, Konya came under the rule of the Karamanids, before being taken over by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. After the Turkish War of Independence the city became part of the modern Republic of Turkey. Excavations have shown that the region was inhabited during the Late Copper Age, around 3000 BC. …

Konya sits in the center of the largest province, in the largest plain (Konya Plain), and is the seventh most heavily populated city in Turkey. The city is in the southern part of the Central Anatolia Region with the southernmost side of the province hemmed in by the Taurus Mountains.