Didim Live - Sightseeing - Sirince Village

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Didim City Guide

Sightseeing - Sirince Village

Sirince Village is 90km from Didim and 12km from Ephesus and 13km inland from the coast. The village lies in a lovely bowl of hills surrounded by peach orchards, vineyards and olive groves.

The higher hills are covered with pine forest. The village is situated 350 metres (1000 ft) above sea level. Due to its situation this means pleasant nights in summer and in winter some frost and the occasional snowfall.

Sirince is a beautiful small Aegean village of 600 inhabitants. It is known for its natural beauties, ancient Greek houses, homemade wine, forests and handicrafts. The history of Sirince Village goes back to 500 BC. Most of the houses were built at a time when Sirince was predominantly a Greek village and date back to the 19th century or earlier.

The village is a perfect synthesis of Turk-Greek culture as of the 1920's. After the Independence War many of the Greeks left the village and Turkish people continued to stay in these typical Greek houses. Even though the houses have kept their original outer characteristics the exterior of the houses have the local layout inside. The most beautiful specimens are open to visitors. And even in the courtyard of one of them, one will discover a nicely restorated Orthodox Church.

While walking the narrow streets of the village you will notice that mainly the women are selling all types of handcrafts, olive oil and so on. Another attraction of Sirince is its wine which you can purchase or taste in small cafés.

Although Sirince Village has been developing in the tourism sector, it has been able to preserve its authenticity.

History of Sirince

Although there is not any concrete indication of how Sirince Village came about in history, the main theory is that a small group of people resettled on the mountain, following the fall of Ephesus and its harbour which moved to Kusadasi. Furthermore, it is thought that the people moved and settled in the mountains due to the problems caused by silting and flooding of the Meander River.

It is said that Sirince Village used to be called Cirkince which means "rather ugly." The people whom lived in the village then called it that because they intended to draw less attention and interest of outsiders, thus ensuring their security. It also said that the naming of the village came about by a group of Byzantine Greeks who were freed from the dominion of the Aydinogullari and sent away for re-settlement, were asked by neighbouring villagers whether the new place they had settled was nice or not and they replied by saying it was "rather ugly".

Finally, in 1924, a Population Exchange Agreement was signed between the Turkish and Greek governments which led to Turkish newcomers from Salonika, Kavala and Provusta. Kazim Dirik Pasha, governor of Izmir at the time, (during the first years of the Turkish Republic) visited the village and suggested changing its name from Cirkince (meaning rather ugly) to Sirince (meaning charming.) It is said that the governor said "such a nice place should not be called ugly and could only be called pretty.

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