Ancient Era and Roman Period
By the 4th century AD, the importance of roads in Anatolia had changed. While Ephesus, significant during the Roman Empire, lost prominence in the Byzantine period, the new capital Istanbul gained importance. Konya, located on the pilgrimage route from Istanbul to Jerusalem, retained its strategic significance during this period and became a stopover for pilgrims heading to Jerusalem. According to the inscription at the entrance of the Aya Elenia (Saint Helena) Church, built in Sille in 327 AD, the structure was commissioned by Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great. According to legend, Helena, the first Christian empress, built many churches along the pilgrimage routes she traveled to find the Holy Cross on which Jesus was crucified. The Aya Elenia Church in Sille clearly proves that Sille was on a pilgrimage route at that time.
Byzantine Period
Although Sille’s name is not explicitly mentioned in historical records from the Byzantine period, like many other settlements in Anatolia, Sille was exposed to Arab raids between the 7th and 10th centuries AD. The strategically dominant Gevale Castle (located on a mountain near Sille) turned the region into an open target during this period, causing Sille and its surroundings to change hands multiple times. After the end of the Arab raids in the late 10th century, Sille became an important religious center. The numerous rock-cut churches in the vicinity, especially the Ak Monastery (Hagios Chariton Monastery) on the southern slopes of Sille, clearly demonstrate this significance. These monasteries and churches carved into the slopes of the Sille valley during the middle Byzantine period emphasize Sille’s place in Christian history.
Seljuk and Crusader Period
Sille’s importance within the history of Konya increased after the Seljuks captured Konya and made it their capital following the Battle of Malazgirt in 1071. After Konya came under Turkish rule, it is thought that some of the non-Muslim population living in the city relocated outside the city, probably to Sille, which was the nearest safe area.
During the First Crusade, on July 3, 1097, Seljuk Sultan Kılıç Arslan I evacuated Konya due to the approaching Crusader army and withdrew to the mountainous regions. The Crusader army entered Konya and stayed there for a while, plundering Konya as well as Sille. Sources from the period indicate that many Greeks (Romans/Byzantines) living near Konya migrated to Istanbul with the Byzantine army during the campaigns led by Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos between 1116-1118. This event is believed to have caused a decrease in the non-Muslim population in Sille and its surroundings.
In 1146, after Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos defeated Seljuk Sultan Mesud I near Philomelion (Akşehir), he besieged Konya and clashed again with the Seljuk army at the foothills of Gevale Castle. According to historian Ioannes Kinnamos, during Manuel’s attacks, the Byzantine army set fire to settlements outside the Konya city walls, which likely included Sille. Besides wars, natural disasters sometimes affected the people of Sille during the Seljuk period. For example, the great plague that struck Konya in 1153, mentioned by historians, may have indirectly affected the population structure of Sille.
In 1226, Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubat I brought a group of Christian Pechenegs Turks to Konya on his return from the Armenian campaign and settled them in Sille. After the decline and collapse of the Seljuk State, Konya and its surroundings were briefly under the rule of the Eshrefids Beylik but were predominantly dominated by the Karamanids Beylik. Sille and its surroundings were a strategic area contested between the Karamanids and the Ottomans, frequently changing hands. Eventually, following battles around Gevale, the region definitively became part of the Ottoman lands by the late 15th century.
Ottoman and Republic Period
During the Ottoman era, Sille was recorded as a village (karye) under the jurisdiction of Konya District during the reigns of Fatih Sultan Mehmed, Bayezid II, Yavuz Sultan Selim, Suleiman the Magnificent, and Murad III. From the 17th century onwards, details regarding Sille’s administrative status are unclear, oscillating between a district and a village. The main livelihoods of Sille’s inhabitants during the Ottoman period were wheat and barley farming and animal husbandry. Over the centuries, the proportion of the Muslim population in Sille increased. In the late 19th century, traveler Charles Texier noted that Armenians and Greeks living in Konya had summer houses in Sille. According to Ottoman Finance and Land Registry records from the early 20th century, 56% of Sille’s population was recorded as Muslim and 44% as non-Muslim. Hungarian researcher Béla Horváth, who visited Konya in 1913, stated that the Greeks in Konya had summer residences in Sille with private churches and that there were nearly 60 churches in Sille. Following the population exchange between Turkey and Greece in 1923, the settled Christian population of Sille migrated to Greece, and Sille became a place inhabited entirely by Turks.
During the Republic era, while the administrative structure was reorganized, Sille was divided into two neighborhoods in 1989 under Konya’s central Selçuklu district (Subaşı Neighborhood and Ak Neighborhood). In 1995, the Konya Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation Board declared the area containing churches, monasteries, and cemeteries on the southern slopes of Sille a first-degree archaeological site, while the existing settlement area was declared an urban site. Today, Sille has become an important cultural and tourism center of Konya. Its streets preserving historical texture, churches and mosques, cave dwellings, and museums attract both local and foreign visitors.
Source: Selçuklu Municipality – Sille Village historical text.Monumental Structures and Albums: Among the main historical sites to visit in Sille are Aya Elenia Church, Ak Monastery (closed to visitors), Subaşı Mosque, historic Sille Baths, and ancient cave dwellings. For photographs and information on registered cultural assets in Sille, the Sille Registered Structures Album can be consulted. For important registered structures throughout Konya, the Konya Registered Structures Album is available.
Promotional Films Related to Sille: (Various documentaries and promotional videos explaining the historical and natural features of Sille)
- Following the Seljuks with Talha Uğurluel – Sille Village – (A history program featuring Sille)
- TRT Documentary – Off the Path: Sille Village – (TRT-produced travel documentary about Sille)
- TRT News – Special promotional film about Sille
- Kanal 2014 – Sille Village rock tombs documentary
- Kent Bilgisi – Sille Dam Lake promotional video
- Kent Bilgisi – Gevale Castle (Sille) promotional video
