Tiny Village Sirince

Şirince (“cutish”) is a tiny and cute village, just as its name, at a distance of 15km to Kuşadası and 7km to Selçuk, with houses, boarding houses, boutique hotels, restaurants and wine houses built on the foot of the mountain..

From the numerous stories told about the foundation of the village, the most known are; it has been founded by the citizens of Ephesus fleeing the invasion by the Aydinogullari; another one is that a group of people freed by their feudal lord have established this village and have named it “ÇİRKİNCE” (uglyish) in order to prevent others from coming there, while the third one is that forty slaves, again freed by the feudal lord, have established the village and named it “KIRKINCA” (fortyish).

We park our car as soon as we arrive at the village square and start to stroll along the narrow streets. Most of the 2-3 stories village homes have been transformed into cute boarding houses. When you pass through the garden gate, you either have to go down to the yard below or

                                             go up to the yard above by the stairs.

We move a little further and meet aunties who have opened 2 stalls in front of 2 homes facing each other. They are selling jams, pickles, tarhana, dried aubergines, dried peppers and fortune flowers, and in the meantime continue with their chatting and embroidery.. Besides the stalls in between the streets, there also is a market on the village square. It is possible to find a wide variety of products from different types of natural soaps, to gauze garments; from olive oil to wine varieties.

Cherry, black mulberry, peach, melon, pear, strawberry, pomegranate, blackberry are only a few of the numerous fruit wines produced in Şirince, that come to my mind right away. You may taste all of them and buy the ones you like..

Walking ahead, we reach the St. John Baptist Orthodox Church at the top of the village, that fascinates us with its panoramic view. As a matter of fact, I got the stories on the foundation of the Şirince village, from the information panel available at the church’s entrance.

Options for food are plenty..  We pick the Artemis Restaurant at the entrance of the village, which has a view of all the village houses on the foot of the mountain. Accompanied by Müzeyyen Senar’s voice (Turkish singer), we enjoy the sunset at our table decked out with the regional food, beneath the olive and pine trees.

The phone list of the hotels and boarding houses in Şirince, have been listed at the village square.

Here’s the Şirince Lodging Guide for you:

We are among those who visit the Şirince village every 2-3 years.. In case you happen to pass by the İzmir-Kuşadası-Selçuk environs, I strongly recommend you to visit Şirince also..

Love,

İpek

What is nearby?

*Ephesus Antique City

*Mother Mary’s Church

*Artemis Temple

Notes:

* As soon as you take the Şirince turn, you start to see tiny boarding houses, picnic areas, and people selling bits and pieces. You may find fragrant peaches freshly picked from the orchards, deep red tomatoes, and stringed peppers for the winter..

* Some streets are so narrow that a foreign tourist who wanted to go up by his car by mistake had to make numerous maneuvers in order to turn his car around. It is best to park your car at the village entrance..