News..  Archipel is still the only place with music on friday and Saturday evenings.. On the other hand, for your romantic escape, Uzum is preferable.. But you should book for winter nights, because, Sıtkı, the chef  may leave early if there are no bookings..

Olive, Fig and Grapevine Houses of Sirince.

Turkey

For a cosy holiday home with lots of character, book into one of the Terrace Houses, three 19th-century cottages in the hill town of Sirince, six miles from Ephesus. The little buildings have been carefully renovated with reclaimed marble basins, wooden sleigh beds and lovely lighting, including Chinese lanterns and wrought-iron chandeliers. A week in peak season costs £630, accommodation only, for a cottage sleeping up to four, with a local gift, for i-escape guests (i-escape.com/terracehouses.php ).

The Ettena Hotel on Cirali beach, with its enviable seafront position and eco-credentials, is an opportunity to enjoy a guilt-free holiday. Nuzzle up to nature in one of the 10 simple wooden chalets, and enjoy al-fresco breakfast buffets and dinners by candlelight (so as not to disturb the turtles that use the beach). Seven nights’ half-board, based on two sharing, cost £348 per person throughout July and August with Journey Anatolia (020 8761 5605; journeyanatolia.com ). Flights cost extra.

The INDEPENDENT EUROPE this year

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/these-summertime-breaks-to-europe-wont-bust-the-budget-1677838.html

Terrace Houses  are located very suitable for walks on the hills..  Our new event is monestry walk… Takes two hours ( return )  and we picnic in the shadow of this facinating ruins of Byzantium monestry..  Cold drinks are available..

Şirincede uzun yaz günlerinin son saatlerinde orman yürüyüşleri veya at gezintileri çok makbul…Mehmet beyin atları her zaman hazır..Kendisi tam bir rençber, hayvancılık tarım ne isterseniz var…20 liraya bu bir buçuk saatlik turu almak mümkün..

This house was uninhabitable when purchased but has been fully restored to its former glory and the 2 cupboards found in the original walls intact have been preserved and replaced in the stairwell of the house.  Reconstruction work began in 2004 and finished in 2005.

            The downstairs of the house has been left in the natural stone which remained from the original construction but the top floor is traditional wood and lath, plastered and painted white.  All the windows were copied from the original windows which were collapsing but enough remained to act as a blue print for the restoration.

 Downstairs there is a large double door leading to the cosy stone interıor where a large and             

comfortable ‘sedır’( traditional seating area) consists of copious soft cushions and

covers three of the walls.  This snug seating arrangement faces the fireplace for warm and comfy winter evenings.   The surrounding stone walls keep it cool in summer.

Antiques from all over Turkey have been added to the house to give it an atmosphere full of rural charm, rustic cupboards from various regions of Turkey are embedded in the half metre thick stone walls.  The floor is made from reclaimed chestnut floorboards from the Black Sea region.

            Off the living room is a large and well equipped  modern stainless steel kitchen where you can have meals prepared and left ready for you or served to you in the living room or garden terrace.  If you prefer to prepare your own, there is a microwave, oven, grill and dishwasher at your disposal.   Along the corridor you come to the bathroom made out of locally quarried limestone.  There is a bath and a shower wet room for you to choose from.

Upstairs there is a small hall wıth two bedrooms leading from it.  The main bedroom has windows facing the village below and the hills beyond and a large double bed . 

The chest of drawers is from Istanbul and the chest from the East of Turkey.  The doors for the bedroom have been reclaimed from a Bosphorus mansion and their irregular design and carving recall days gone by. The room is heated in winter

This pretty old Orthodox village, 12 km away from Ephesus and 30 km from Kusadasi, was once Cirkince (“ugly”). Indeed its habitants gave this name on purpose as they did not want to be bothered by foreigners nor to share the beauty of their village.
   Still after years, visitors understood that the village was not ugly at all and called it Sirince (“pretty”). As the village is located on the top of a mountain, anyone will enjoy the impressive wine yards’ and peach trees’ views on his way.
   Today the village is a perfect synthesis of Turk-Greek culture as of the 1920′s : after the Independence War, people exchange between Greek and Turks has occurred and all those typical Greek houses, though they kept their original outside characteristics, have received 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.
   All the narrow streets of the village belong to the women, selling handcrafts of all kinds, olive oil. Another attraction of Sirince is its wine : try its taste in small cafés or in the former municipal school restorated and today the best restaurant of town “Artemis”.
   Though Sirince is developing its tourism very quickly, it has been able to preserve its authenticity and the meaning of its name.

Sirince (pronounced she-RIN-jay) is a wonderful little Aegean village of 600 inhabitants. It is located in the hills at about 350 meters (1000 ft) above sea level, which means pleasant nights even in hottest July, and in winter some frost and the occasional snowfall. Most of the houses in the village date from the 19th century or earlier. They were built at a time when Sirince was predominantly a Greek village.

You can meet all these people and experience the village life 10 minutes to the ancient Ephesus , St.John basilica, Isa bey mosque of Anatolian Selcuks and many others…

ephesus houses are ready to put the fire on….And,, we are still only 15 minutes to the display of 400BC at the terrace houses in Ephesus…