Akşehir

Akşehir, the “White Town”, lies at the foot of the Sultan Mountains near the lake that bears its name. Its position on the road across western Anatolia made it a town of markets, mosques and caravanserais. The town is especially associated with Nasreddin Hoca, the wise and mischievous figure whose stories have travelled far beyond Anatolia. His tomb at Akşehir became a place of remembrance.

Akşehir passed from Seljuk to Karamanid and Ottoman rule. Under the Ottomans the town remained a stop on the road between the interior and the west, with the cultivated plain and mountain slopes supporting its inhabitants. Tales of Nasreddin continued to be retold in many languages, their humour often turning an apparently foolish answer into a lesson about human pride or common sense.