Sirince

Aegean, Turkey 2 tours visit here

Sirince is a hillside village in the Selcuk district of Izmir Province, set among vineyards, olive groves and orchards in the hills just inland from the Ephesus archaeological site. Until the 1923 population exchange between Turkey and Greece it was a Greek Orthodox settlement; the families who arrived afterwards from Greece took over its houses, and the village kept its Ottoman-Greek character of whitewashed walls, timber upper floors and red-tiled roofs along steep, narrow lanes. Walking is the main activity. The lanes climb past two former Greek churches and terraces that look over the valley, while the centre of the village is given over to stalls and workshops selling what Sirince is known for: fruit wines pressed from local peach, mulberry, pomegranate and berry harvests, plus olive oil, soaps, dried herbs and hand-woven textiles. Because it lies close to Selcuk, Ephesus and the Basilica of St John, Sirince is usually seen as a short stop of an hour or two rather than a destination in itself, reached by the winding road up from Selcuk. Weekends and the middle of the day draw the biggest crowds; mornings are quieter, and the hills around the village are greenest in spring.