PART OF PARADISE SIRINCE
After visiting Ephesus in southwestern Turkey, do
not miss the opportunity to visit the beautiful mountain village
of Sirince. From the town of Selçuk where Ephesus is situated,
a winding road takes you through green countryside to this corner
of paradise just eight kilometres away. Surrounded by forest clad
hills, the village lies on the south and west slopes of a valley.
Sirince overlooks the Ephesus plain, whose olive
groves, orchards, vineyards, and fields of tobacco and cotton stretch
to the sea. After 15 or 20 minutes the road from Selçuk rises
over a hill and winds down the other side into the village square.
Our first objective in coming here was of course to eat! So before
looking around Sirince, we headed straight for Artemis Wine House
and Restaurant on the hill on the edge of the village. The restaurant
is housed in a re-stored building that was formerly the village
school and serves homemade wines and delicious food made from local
produce. The wonderful views over the village and plain lend their
own savour to the food.
Hunger satisfied, it was time to explore Sirince.
The main street and square are shaded by great plane trees and lined
by shops, coffee houses and restaurants. We sat for a while in the
coffee house in the square drinking tea and chatting to the village
muhtar (elder) Ali Vurmazdere. He is delighted that Sirince is becoming
so popular with visitors, and hopes that tourism will reverse the
fortunes of the village. Local inhabitants have been moving away
in large numbers in recent years, both for economic reasons and
because of problems like their childrn’sc education. The population
has fallen from 840 in 1980 to 704 today.
Some writers refer to Sirince as Ephesus in the Mountains, asserting
that Sirince - formerly Kirkinca - was established in the fifth
century after alluvion carried down by the Küçük
Menderes River and flooding made the ancient site unfit for habitation.
Hearsay relates that the name Kirkinca was later changed to Çirkince
(the Ugly Place) so as to prevent others discovering this beautiful
spot and moving here.
When the Turkish Aydinogullari Principality took
Selçuk in 1348, some of the town’s Byzantine inhabitants
fled and settled in Sirince. In the 19th century Sirince is recorded
as consisting of 1800 households, all Greek. In the wake of the
First World War the Greeks of Sirince migrated to Greece, leaving
Sirince empty until 1924, when Turks from Salonika, Kavala, Provusta
and other Greek towns arrived as part of the population exchange
between the two countries.
When governor of Izmir Kâzim Dirik visited
the village he was so charmed with Kirkinca that he altered the
name to Sirince
(Charming Place). Ali Vurmazdere took us around the village. The
narrow stone streets are full of picturesque shops selling lace
and other handicrafts made by local women. There are also stalls
selling homemade soap and the local wines for which Sirince is renowned.
Tobacco, olives, and peaches are also grown in the area, and tourism
is becoming another important part of the local economy.
As we climbed up through the village, which rises
on the slopes on either side of the river, we were fascinated by
the old houses along the narrow streets. Sirince is one of the few
places in Turkey to have preserved its 19th century texture intact.
The ground and first floors are built of rubble stone and the second
floors of lathe and plaster. The upper floors, which oversail the
lower, contain the living spaces, while the ground floors consist
of store rooms and stables.
The window frames and eaves are decorated with flower,
bird and leaf motifs. Handmade lace curtains hang at the windows.
Oleanders and other colourful flowers and shrubs grow luxuriantly
in the gardens on either side of the lanes.
Some of the houses have been restored and turned
into pensions for over-night guests, so it is now possible to make
Sirince a base for exploring the region. Sirince is within easy
reach not only of Ephesus but other ancient cities like Priene,
Miletus and Didyma.
We talked to Ahmet Koçak, the owner of Hotel
Sirince Houses and a former tour guide. He fell in love with the
village at first sight and resolved to settle here. He restored
two of the old houses and turned them into a hotel.
Sirince is a place where visitors who want to get
away from the beaten tourist track can enjoy the authentic village
atmosphere, waking to the call of the cockerels, and participating
in traditional harvest festivities in the vineyards and olive groves,’
he explained.
Several local people have set up small restaurants
in their gardens, some specialising in gözleme, a griddle bread
with various fillings. It is unthinkable to leave Sirince without
tasting this simple but delicious dish. You can watch the dough
being rolled out, being filled with cheese, auber-gines, mushrooms
or minced meat, and then cooked on the griddle over a wood fire.
Accom-panied by a drink of cold ayran (yogurt beaten with water)
it makes a wonderful meal.
The two churches in Sirince are now being restored.
The Church of St John the Baptist was built in 1832 and is being
restored by an American foundation under the auspices of Ephesus
Museum. The second smaller church is also thought to date from the
early 19th century.
When the time came to leave Sirince we remembered
the words of the Greek writer Dido Sotiriyo in his book, ‘Greetings
to Anatolia’: ‘If there is a paradise on earth, then
our Sirince is surely part of it.’
* Yusuf Tuvi is a photographer
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