SIRINCE (she ren jay)

Sirince lies at the end of a narrow, winding road, high in the hills from Selcuk.  It is a collection of stone and stucco houses with red-tiled roofs.  It was originally settled when Ephesus was abandoned, but what is seen today is the remains of a Greek settlement of freed slaves from the 15th c.  Originally named Cirkince meaning "ugly", to deter others not to follow them, it was changed in the early 1920's, after the people exchange, to Sirince, meaning "pleasant".  While the village has become a "tourist attraction", it is a rural community, its livelihood rooted in fruit farming, handcrafts, and most recently, its fruit wines.

The people of the village were as varied and colorful as the bottles of fruit wines...

 The Church of St. John the Baptist, full of fading frescoes,  lies up the wandering back streets, with a beautiful view across the village.

Wandering the winding, uphill, downhill streets of Sirince makes one hungry, so lunch was in order...

This shop was well and truly protected with the horseshoe for good luck, the evil eye to protect from people coveting what you have, and the pinecone, which is symbolic of protection from evil forces.

There were interesting sites and smells around every corner...

including vegetation and critters.

Judging by the number of tour buses in the parking lot, it is a popular place, and also time to leave before it gets too crowded.