Sille is the most visited day trip from Konya — a small village 8 km northwest of the city, built into a steep canyon and inhabited continuously since Byzantine times. It was a Greek Orthodox community until 1924, and the principal building is the Aya Eleni Church — Hagia Helena — a fourth-century foundation said to have been built by Saint Helena, mother of Constantine, on her way to Jerusalem. The current building dates mostly from the nineteenth century but preserves earlier elements; it is now open as a museum, with frescoes covering the walls.
The village itself is worth walking — old stone houses on either side of a small stream, a couple of cafés where local women sell handmade carpets, and a hilltop with the ruined Subaşı Mosque and views over the gorge. The Konya city bus runs to Sille several times a day for almost nothing; a taxi takes fifteen minutes. Allow a half day.