“Slap” village Population: 1,200
Other names: Subaşı, Sylata
The pretty little village of Sille, just to the north of Konya, was once a Greek settlement strung out along a valley surrounded by craggy rocks with the Sille Cayı (river) running through it. Most of its attractive wood-and-stone houses and ancient monuments have been restored, making it a great place in which to while away a few hours.
The Greeks of Sille and the Turks of Konya are said to have had a particularly friendly relationship encouraged by Celaleddin Rumi (Mevlana) who had supposedly witnessed a miracle in the nearby late 3rd-century monastery of St Chariton, now called the Ak Manastır (White Monastery, AKA Eflatun Manastır). Ultimately, however, the Sille Greeks like all the others were forced to leave the country in the population exchange of 1924. They had continued to speak Cappadocian Greek right up until then.
Around town
The most conspicuous monument here is the huge domed Byzantine Church of St Helena who is said to have passed through Sille on her way to Jerusalem in the early 4th century. It stands at the far end of the village near the last bus stop. Dating back to 371, it was extensively rebuilt in 1833 when Turkey’s minority populations were given permission to modernise their places of worship. In the 1880s money from wealthy traders in İstanbul flooded in to pay for new frescoes. Now the building has been given a complete makeover and has been reopened to the public who flock in at weekends to admire the colourful wooden iconostasis and other fittings.
Before leaving don’t forget to admire the brickwork and the chunks of Roman marble embedded in the walls.
The inscription over the main entrance is in Karamanlı in which the Turkish language was written in Greek characters.
Just a short walk away is a wall of rock studded with cave churches, the fading frescoes on their walls and the graves cut into their floors reminiscent of Cappadocia. Access may have been blocked since my last visit in 2015.
Up on the hillside the restored Küçük Kilise (Small Church) offers a great viewing point for getting the lay of the land. It has been turned into a Zaman Müzesi (Time Museum) exhibiting timepieces from Ottoman and early Republican times. That seen, you can stroll back through a village that will remind some British visitors of Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds.
The houses are delightful with geraniums brightening their window ledges. The 19th-century Çaybaşı Cami has an attractive wooden porch which opens onto an interior with wooden columns and a very attractive wooden mihrab.
If you can do so, time your visit for lunch-time so that you can sit down for a meal at the inviting Sille Konak housed in one of the finest of the old houses. Bamya çorbası (okra soup) is just one of the local delicacies on offer.
On the outskirts of Sille as you return to Konya you will see the restored Arsenal building overlooking a large park to the left of the road.
Sleeping
Konak Butik Hotel. Tel: 0332-244 9269
Sillehan. Tel: 0332-244 9100
Transport info
Sille is very easy to get to from Konya with No 64 buses leaving from the bus stand opposite Alaeddin Tepesi at the top of Mevlana Caddesi every half-hour.
Nearby destinations
Ak Manastır
