
The apostle Paul made two visits to Iconium, a major city in Anatolia and now Turkey. It was built up by Phrygians after the decline of the Hittite Empire. Paul encountered serious opposition from Jews when he brought the gospel to the city first in the late 40’s (Acts 14:1-7) and again in the early 50’s. Jews seem to be located here because the native Lycaonia in Phrygia was more tolerant of Jews than the Celtic regions of Galatia. Nonetheless, apparently Paul achieved relative success in preaching in Iconium (Acts 14:21).
Not much remains of the Christian presence in Iconium which was conquered by the Seljuk Turks in the 11th century and later became a shrine for one of the great Ottoman sultans. It is also the city where Mevlana, the Muslim Sufi (mystic) developed his school of Whirling Dervishes.
I remember that it was in Konya that some local school girls interviewed my wife. They seem to have received an assignment from their teacher to find a tourist from another country and ask her some questions. If I remember correctly, they may have specified an American tourist. We also had a marvelous meal there that remains one of the most memorable in our minds.
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