ITINERARY

• Until recently, the Oresin Han is considered to have been built in the third quarter of the 13th century by analysis of the stylistic features. On what must have been an very exciting day during the 2007 renovation of the han, Necdet Ozkan discovered the inscription plaque among the fallen stones. The inscription has now been placed in the tympanum of the main door. This inscription of 3 lines is quite brief, and does not contain the benediction for the sultan or its patron. It does not include the name of the han, but gives a firm date. It comprises three lines and reads as follows: Melih Sultan, son of Kiliç Aslan, the son of Shah the Great Sultan Mesud, had ordered this han to be built during his reign, in Hijri 584 / A.D. 1188.
• The lake, occupying a tectonic depression in the central plateau of Turkey, is fed by two major streams, groundwater, and surface water, but has no outlet. Brackish marshes have formed where channels and streams enter the lake. Arable fields surround the lake, except in the south and southwest where extensive seasonally flooded salt-steppe occurs.
• The Konya region has been inhabited since the 3rd millennium BC. Known as Iconium during classical antiquity, the city was ruled successively by the Phrygian, Persian, Hellenistic and Roman civilizations. In the 11th century the Seljuk Turks conquered the area from the Byzantines, and Konya then became the capital of the Sultanate of Rum. Under the Seljuks, the city reached the height of its wealth and influence. Following the demise of Rum, 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.