Around Ephesus
Sirince Village
Key answer
Sirince is a hill village in the countryside above Selcuk, a short distance inland from Ephesus. It is known for its old stone-and-timber village houses on the slopes, its former Greek Orthodox church, and the small shops selling local fruit wines and village produce.
Historical Evidence
The village and its houses
Sirince sits in hills above Selcuk, its houses stepped up two facing slopes. The older buildings are in the regional style of stone ground floors with whitewashed timber-framed upper storeys, and the village keeps a former Greek Orthodox church from the period before the 1923 population exchange, when the village was inhabited by Anatolian Greeks.
Today it is a small settlement of houses, workshops and family businesses reached by a narrow country road from Selcuk.
Tradition
The story behind the name
The village is popularly said to have been called Cirkince — roughly 'ugly-ish' — by its inhabitants so that outsiders would not come and settle, and to have been renamed Sirince, 'pleasant', later on. This is a local tradition rather than a documented event, and it should be read as a story the village tells about itself.
Visiting from the Ephesus area
Sirince is inland from Selcuk on a winding road and is usually seen as a short addition to a day around Ephesus rather than a destination of its own. The lanes are steep and cobbled in places.
Journey times, road conditions and what fits alongside a site visit depend on your date and your own timings, so no timings, fees or access claims are published here. Ask us and we confirm what is realistic.
Common questions
In the hills above Selcuk in Izmir province, inland from the Ephesus site.
Its old stone-and-timber village houses, its former Greek Orthodox church, and the local fruit wines and village produce sold in its shops.