[6] Philomelion (Φιλομήλιον) was probably a Pergamene foundation on the great Graeco-Roman Highway from Ephesus to the east and Cicero, on his way to Cilicia, dated some of his extant correspondence there.

St Paul passed the city on his second and third missionary journey in the first century and his impact can be traced by numerous Christian inscriptions in the region.

It was retaken by forces of the First Crusade and in 1098 Stephen of Blois met emperor Alexios I Komnenos here, persuading him to not continue his march to Antioch.

The town was taken a final time by German members of the Third Crusade in 1190 but rebuilt in 1196 by Kaykhusraw I and resettled with Greek captives taken on a raid from Caria.

Akşehir experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa),[12] with hot, dry summers, and chilly, rainy, often snowy winters.