Ancient City of Ephesus In the morning, when the weather is a little cooler, we will explore the Ancient City of Ephesus. Your guide with take you through all the major highlights of the city including the gymnasium, library and the grand theatre while explaining the history of the city and the region and some interesting stories along the way. The city itself is magnificent, with over 200,000 people living here over 3000 years ago.
Temple of ArtemisThe Temple of Artemis is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Much of the remains of this temple are located in the London British Museum. Today one can only see the foundations of the ruins of this incredible construction of the Hellenistic Age, entirely made of marble and full of sculptured columns capitals and shafts.
Virgin Mary HouseThe House of Virgin Mary is a popular place of pilgrimage for Catholics. It is believed that this was where Virgin Mary spent the remainder of her life. The house is located on top of Bulbul Mountain in Selcuk, and offers visitors a panoramic view over the town.
Sirince VillageSirince Village, a pretty old Orthodox village 12 km from Ephesus, was once known as Cirkince ("ugly"). It is rumoured to be named Ugly to keep foreigners away from this quaint village and keep it's small town charm. After many years, visitors discovered that the village was not ugly at all and called it Sirince ("pretty").Today the village is a perfect fusion of Turk-Greek culture. After the Independence war, the two governments organised a population exchange between the Greek and Turks. What was once a Greek settlement is now occupied by mainly Turks. The Greek Houses remain, though they have now received the local layout inside.
All the narrow streets of Sirince Village belong to the women, selling handcrafts of all kinds and olive oil. The main attraction to Sirince is the grape and fruit wine. It is famous all over Turkey and definitely to be tried at one of the small cafés or in the former municipal school that has now been restored