Konya is served by TCDD high-speed train (YHT) services from Istanbul, Ankara and Karaman.

Konya is believed to correspond to the Late Bronze Age toponym Ikkuwaniya known from Hittite records.

[6][7] A folk etymology holds that the name Ikónion was derived from εἰκών ('icon'), referring to an ancient Greek legend according to which the hero Perseus vanquished the native population with an image of the "Gorgon Medusa's head" before founding the city.

[9] The Konya region has been inhabited since the third millennium BC and fell at different times under the rule of the Hittites, the Phrygians, the Greeks, the Persians and the Romans.

In the 11th century the Seljuk Turks conquered the area and began ruling over its Rûm (Byzantine Greek) inhabitants, making Konya the capital of their new Sultanate of Rum.

As Attalus III, the last king of Pergamon, was about to die without an heir, he bequeathed his kingdom to the Roman Republic.

Konya reached the height of its wealth and influence in the second half of the 12th century when the Seljuk sultans of Rum also subdued the Anatolian beyliks to their east, especially that of the Danishmends, thus establishing their rule over virtually all of eastern Anatolia,.

[citation needed] Many Persians and Persianised Turks from Persia and Central Asia migrated to Anatolian cities either to flee the invading Mongols or to benefit from the opportunities for educated Muslims in a newly established kingdom.

In 1420, the Beylik of Karamanoğlu fell to the Ottoman Empire and, in 1453, Konya was made the provincial capital of the Karaman Eyalet.

Although he was driven out with the help of the European powers, Konya went into a decline after this, as described by the British traveller, William Hamilton, who visited in 1837 and found a scene 'of destruction and decay', as he recorded in his Researches in Asia Minor, Pontus and Armenia, published in 1842.

[29] While agriculture-based industries play a role, the city's economy has evolved into a center for the manufacturing of components for the automotive industry; machinery manufacturing; agricultural tools; casting; plastic paints and chemicals; construction materials; paper and packaging; processed foods; textiles; and leather.

[31] The city is in the southern part of the Central Anatolia Region with the southernmost side of the province hemmed in by the Taurus Mountains.

[35] Konya was the final home of Rumi (Mevlana), whose turquoise-domed tomb in the city is its primary tourist attraction.

Expensive, richly patterned Konya carpets were exported to Europe during the Renaissance[36] and were draped over furniture to show off the wealth and status of their owners.

[37] One of the city's best-known dishes, etli ekmek consists of slices of lamb served on flaps of soft white bread.

[41] Konya is also known for unfeasibly long pides (Turkish pizzas) intended to be shared, and tirit, a traditional rice dish made from meat and assorted vegetables.

On May 31, 2017, they won their first national trophy, beating İstanbul Başakşehir to the Türkiye Kupası in a penalty shootout.

They repeated this success on August 6, 2017, defeating Beşiktaş to win the Türkiye Süper Kupası (Turkish Super Bowl).

[45][better source needed] The central bus station has connections to a range of destinations, including Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir.

The wing controls the four Boeing 737 AEW&C Peace Eagle aircraft of the Turkish Air Force.