My father's fatherless family shortly after the Asia Minor Catastrophe
[At bottom center-left is my father, Nazi
labor camp survivor and
author of "Scattered Drops of Geometry" (2001)]
The tiny village of Sille, 8km northwest of Konya, has
a long
and interesting history. Helena, mother of Byzantine Emperor Constanine,
stopped in Konya during her journey to Jerusalem for a Hajj pilgrimage in
327 AD, and after seeing the engraved temples here belonging to the first
ages of Christianity, she too decided to construct a temple. The Sille
Aya, or Elena Church, contains a rostrum and some fairly well preserved
murals, which are unique works of art. It is thought that this church was
in use until 1923. The village also has old stone
bridges, other churches
and the remains of frescoes. Sille is reached by bus number 64 from
Konya.
