Alaeddin Hill, located in Turkey's Konya Karatay district in the center of the province depends on the hill. The hill, which is 450 x 350 meters tall and 20 meters high, was one of the protohistoric settlements called mounds.
As a result of the excavations carried out by the Turkish Historical Society in 1941, it was understood that the first settlement on the hill started in the Early Bronze Age, around 3000 BC. After this period, it continued to be used as a settlement in the Phrygian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods. Today, it is a recreation spot besides its historical value.
History of Alaeddin Hill
Alâeddin Hill, which is known to be the first settlements in 3000 BC, in the Early Bronze Age; later it hosted the Hittites. After the fall of the Hittite Kingdom in 1190 BC, it came under the rule of the Phrygians. During this period, the hill was named "Kawania". After the Phrygians, the region was conquered by the Lydians. During the Achaemenid Empire, which destroyed the Lydian Kingdom in 547 BC, Cappadocia became a city under the satrapy.
Kawania was pronounced "Kaoania" in ancient Greek. In this period, it is estimated that the city left its name to "Iconion", which means "description" in Greek due to its sound similarity. During the reign of the Eastern Roman Empire, Iconion was the administrative center of a large region around it. During this period, while the walls surrounding the hill were renewed, some structures were built outside the walls.
The city, which was the capital of the Anatolian Seljuk State at the end of the 11th century, took its first and only attack during the Third Crusade after this date. The Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa had captured the city in 1190 to rest his army. After a short while, the city was taken back by the Seljuks.
Later, the Ottoman Empire and its successor, took place in the territory of Turkey.
The Buildings Above It and Their Current Status
The most important building on the hill that has survived to the present day is shown as the Alâeddin Mosque and its cupolas to the north of the hill. This mosque, whose construction was completed in 1220, takes its name from the Seljuk sultan I. Alaeddin Keykubad. II. In the large vault in the courtyard built by Kılıç Arslan, II. There are graves of eight sultans, including Kılıç Arslan. Again, during the Seljuk period, a palace was built to the north of the hill.
On the south of the hill, there was a neighborhood where Greek and Armenian communities lived until the 20th century. The adjacent churches of these communities disappeared in the 1920s. Today, the army house stands in their places.
The purpose of the church, which was built on the hill in the 10th or 11th centuries, during the Seljuk period is unknown. According to some sources written in the 13th century, there is Plato's tomb here. A Russian merchant named Vasilij, who passed through the region between 1465-1466, states that the name of the church is Amfilokios. The building, which became a mosque in the Ottoman period, was turned into a clock tower in 1872, since it no longer had a community. After being used as an arsenal during World War I, it was destroyed in the 1920s.
Next to the mosque, there is a fountain and water reservoir built by Konya Governor Ferit Pasha in 1908. On the part of the hill overlooking the Mevlana Kulliye, the Martyrs' Monument, built in 1936 in the style of the National Architecture Movement, is located.
In addition to the historical buildings, today there are various tea gardens as well as the marriage office and army house. Together with the afforestation works on it, it serves as a recreation area besides its historical value.
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