Sille, also known as Sille Subaşı, and formerly known as Sylata is a small

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

village, near the town of Konya. Sille Subaşı was one of the few villages where the Cappadocian Greek language was spoken until 1922. It was inhabited by Greeks who had been living there in peaceful coexistence with the nearby Turks of Konya for over 800 years. The reason for this peaceful coexistence was Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, who was the witness of a miracle that happened at the nearby

Orthodox Christian Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churche ...

monastery of

Saint Chariton Chariton the Confessor (Greek: Χαρίτων; mid-3rd century, Iconium, Asia Minor – c. 350, Judaean desert) was a Christian saint. His remembrance day is September 28. Life Sources We know about his ''vita'' from the 6th-century "Life of Cha ...

. In the Turkish language the monastery is now called ''Akmanastir'' and is translated as, "White Monastery". Jalal al-Din Rumi constructed a small mosque inside the Saint Chariton monastery. It is also notable that Jalal al-Din Rumi wrote Greek poems using the Arabic-Turkish scripting, while Greek Sille villagers wrote Turkish using the Greek alphabet scripting. This form of writing spread across the region and was commonly known as

Karamanli Turkish Karamanlı Turkish ( tr, Karamanlı Türkçesi, el, Καραμανλήδικα, Karamanlídika) is a dialect of the Turkish language spoken by the Karamanlides. Although the official Ottoman Turkish was written in the Arabic script, the Karam ...

writing. Mevlana asked the Turks never to hurt the Greeks of the village, and assigned to the Greek villagers the task of cleaning his own tomb. The Turks respected his commandment. In turbulent times, several

firman A firman ( fa, , translit=farmân; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods they were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The word firman com ...

s from the

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

were sent to Konya Turks, which reminded them of their promise not to hurt the Sille villagers. The coexistence of Sille Greeks with the nearby Turks remained peaceful, which is why the villagers managed to preserve for over eight centuries both their native Greek language''Modern Greek in Asia Minor: A study of dialect of Silly, Cappadocia and Pharasa'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1916), by

Richard MacGillivray Dawkins Richard MacGillivray Dawkins FBA (24 October 1871 – 4 May 1955) was a British archaeologist. He was associated with the British School at Athens, of which he was Director between 1906 and 1913. Early life He was the son of Rear-Admiral ...

(1871–1955) and their

religion. In the

population exchanges between Greece and Turkey The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey ( el, Ἡ Ἀνταλλαγή, I Antallagí, ota, مبادله, Mübâdele, tr, Mübadele) stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at ...

(1923), Turkey and Greece expelled their respective Christian and Muslim populations to the other. After 1924, all Greeks had left the village. The majority of this population relocated to the Nea Silata village in Halkidiki, Greece. Currently, the village is protected and renovation efforts were conducted for preservation and

touristic Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

purposes.

References and notes

External links

Sille HomepageSille in google maps

Pictures of the village

Towns in Turkey {{Konya-geo-stub

See also

References and notes

External links