Shadow of the Mevlana Tomb, Konya, c.1923 photo

What it is

This is an autochrome-style colour photograph of the Mevlana complex in Konya under a dark, cloudy sky. A turquoise-tiled conical roof dominates the right side beside a tall white minaret and stone domed buildings. A smaller domed mosque and minaret stand on the left, with a low stone building and bare trees in the foreground. The photographer is not named, and the date is given as about 1923.

Why it matters

The tomb of Rumi in Konya became a place of memorial and pilgrimage over the centuries. A photograph from the 1920s shows the site in an earlier era of modern Turkey, when the memorial was a visible part of the city's landscape. It is a record of how Rumi's memory was kept alive, not a view from his own time.

Look closer

• Which buildings in the photograph would be easiest to recognise today, and which seem to have changed?
• How does the sky and the dark light affect the mood of the picture?
• Who would have taken a photograph like this, and what did they want people to remember about the place?