Iconium

Iconium (Gr. Ikonion, mod. Konieh), an ancient city of Asia Minor, formerly the capital of Lyoaonia, and now of the Turkish province of Karaman, is situated 310 miles east of Smyrna on the edge of the great central plateau. On the highway between Antioch and Derbe, and surrounded by a fertile country, it became a place of importance even in the time of Xenophon. St. Paul founded a Christian church here, and thrice visited the spot. The walls of the old city may still be traced within the circuit of those erected in the thirteenth century, and the ruins of the citadel and of the Byzantine church of St. Thecla may be seen amongst mosques and shrines of a later date. There is some trade in carpets and morocco leather, but the former prosperity has dwindled away under Turkish rule.