29 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

The Ancient City of Kilistra, Cappadocia of Konya’s

When we talk about fairy chimneys, churches and underground cities, the first place that comes to mind is Cappadocia between Nevşehir and Aksaray. Cappadocia’s, which attracts many local and foreign tourists with its unique historical richness, also there is a similar located in Konya.

Kilistra Ancient City is located on the historical King Road. It is like the Cappadocia of Konya with its resembling fairy chimneys structures  , chapels, churches, water cisterns and shelters.

In the ancient city of Kilistra, where traces of settlement are seen in the BC.3rd century, interest in the region increased more during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

Kilistra the one the center of belief of the period, is a place where the people of Lystra, who chose Christianity in the Roman period, were hiding. It is accepted that St. Paul, one of the first Christians, was one of the visiting stops. Such that; Locals continue to call the area of the Sümbül Church in Kilistra as Paulönü.

The ancient city of Kilistra was a place chosen by the first Christians to be protected from pagan attacks.

The settlements in Kilistra, where the first Christians escaped from attack and plunder, resemble the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia. Settlement areas were created by carving the rocks. The rock carvings made do not attract attention when viewed from the front, but when entering the inner areas, it is seen that a very large sitting area, a solid lighting and ventilation are made. There are shelters, watchtowers and outpost structure, architectural structures built to escape attack and looting.

The Cross Plan Chapel (Sandıkkaya) in the ancient city is a unique, interesting structure carved from inside and outside into solid rock. On the side of the large water cistern on the northern slope of Ardıçlı Tepe, Monumental rock tombs are seen in the necropolis area.

There are churches carved into the rocks in Kilistra Ancient City.

As in Cappadocia, the presence of volcanic tuff rocks in Kilistra causes fairy chimney shapes to be seen.

In the Byzantine period, there are available marks about what you live of Greeks and Turks together in the ancient city of Kilistra.

How to Get to Kilistra Ancient City?

Kilistra Antique City, which is approximately 50 kilometers away from Konya center, is located within the boundary of the Gökurt District of Meram district. Transportation is very easy for those who want to see the historical and geographical beauty of Kilistra Ancient City, Cappadocia of Konya.

You can go to Kilistra (Gökyurt) from the 34 km Konya-Hatunsaray asphalt road with a 15 km asphalt road to the southeast.

Turning south from 34 km of Konya-Antalya asphalt road, you can reach Kilistra by a 15 km stabilized road.

Related Articles

4000-year-old sword found in Finland

12 October 2021

12 October 2021

A Bronze Age sword dating back as far as 1700 B.C.was discovered broken in items in Finland this previous summer...

Roman Bath Complex Found under Spain’s Caños de Meca beach

22 May 2021

22 May 2021

A well-preserved ancient Roman bath complex emerged from the sand of a beach in the Andalusian region of southwestern Spain....

Norwegian Boy in Search of Granddad’s Wedding Ring Finds 1500-year-old Roman Jewellery

11 August 2021

11 August 2021

Sander Magnus Vang (12) needed to find his grandfather’s lost wedding ring. Instead, he found a 1500-year-old ring. The golden...

Unique Iron & Viking-Age Mortuary Houses Found in Norway

28 August 2024

28 August 2024

While building a road in the village of Vinjeøra in central Norway, three ancient mortuary houses dating back to the...

Unsolvable Megalithic Mystery of ancient Greek “Dragon Houses”

8 January 2025

8 January 2025

The Dragon Houses of Euboea, which probably dates to the Preclassical period of ancient Greece, are one of the historical...

The newly discovered fossils are 200,000 years old in Denisova Cave

29 November 2021

29 November 2021

Scientists have discovered the earliest remains of a human lineage known as the Denisovans. Researchers have identified stone artifacts connected...

Life in Trabzon Started in This Cave 13,000 Years Ago

12 March 2021

12 March 2021

Karadeniz Technical University Archeology Department academicians found that life in Trabzon started 13,000 years ago in the Koskarlı Cave. Koskarlı...

Culinary Habits of Ancient Maltese

24 February 2021

24 February 2021

Pottery shards found at the ancient settlement were analyzed for fragments of organic residue and protein. The culinary habits of...

Ruins of China’s earliest state academy found in east China

21 February 2022

21 February 2022

The ruins of ancient China‘s first government-run institution of higher learning, built in 374 BC, have been discovered in the...

Israeli researchers create AI to translate ancient cuneiform Akkadian texts

4 May 2023

4 May 2023

Israeli experts have created a program to translate an ancient language that is difficult to decipher, allowing automatic and accurate...

Ancient Synagogue found in Turkey’s popular tourist center Side

27 December 2021

27 December 2021

A 7th-century ancient synagogue has been found in Side, a resort town on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. The synagogue found was...

Archaeologists discover traces of ancient Jalula, the city that witnessed the famous battle of the same name 1386 years ago

23 November 2023

23 November 2023

The  Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) has announced the discovery of the boundaries and various structures of...

A 2,000-year-old wooden bridge that once linked England and Wales discovered

31 August 2023

31 August 2023

Archaeologists have discovered evidence of Roman and Anglo-Saxon fortifications in the town of Chepstow in the United Kingdom. Surprisingly, however,...

Tombs rich in artifacts discovered by Swedish archaeologists in Cyprus

7 July 2023

7 July 2023

A Swedish archaeological expedition made the extraordinary discovery of tombs outside the Bronze Age trading metropolis of Hala Sultan Tekke...

The bronze age village Afragola buried by the Plinian eruption of mount Vesuvius 4,000 Years Ago

30 September 2022

30 September 2022

Mount Vesuvius’ Plinian eruption about 4,000 years ago—2,000 years before it buried the Roman city of Pompeii—left remarkable preservation of...