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also Konia, city, central Turkey, capital of Konya Province,
on the Plain of Konya. Carpets and leather are produced and trading
of minerals is carried on here. The surrounding area is noted for the
breeding of horses and camels. Konya has irrigated gardens, several
very fine mosques, and a monastery of the Maulawiyah, or whirling
dervishes, with the tomb of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Din ar-Rumi, the
founder of that group (see Under the Persian Empire, Konya, then called Iconium, was
the frontier city of Phrygia. The Romans joined it to Lycaonian
district and made it the capital. St. Paul and Barnabas preached
here. At that time it probably had a considerable Jewish population
and became the center from which Christianity spread in south Galatia.
In Byz-antine times it was the seat of an archbishop. It was the
capital of the sultanate of Rum established by the
An article from Funk & Wagnalls® New Encyclopedia. © 2006 World Almanac Education Group. A WRC Media Company. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by
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