A loop trail through Şirince and the surrounding forests with many beautiful views

The start and end of the route is in Şirince. Along the way we will see some very nice parts of this picturesque town. In addition, we walk through vast forests, where we have many views.

Şirince (From Lonely Planet and Wikipedia)
The ancient mountain village, inhabited since the Hellenic era, with pretty houses in stone, stucco and wood and a long tradition in the production of wine, is today a renowned Turkish and international tourist resort. Although it lost some of its original charm due to a flood, Şirince is still a nice destination for a day trip, although the atmosphere is much quieter at night (or in winter), and recently they have opened some elegant (and expensive) boutique hotels, born to satisfy the demands of a wealthy clientele.
Şirince prospered when Ephesus was abandoned in the 15th century but most of what one sees today dates from the 19th century. There is a story that the village was settled by freed Greek slaves who named the village Çirkince (meaning "Ugly" in Turkish) to deter others from following them. There is an alternative suggestion made by Cahit Tecli that the village takes its name from the nomadic Turcoman tribe which appears in Ottoman registers as Cirkin, Cirkinlu, Cirkinoglu, Cirkitali and Cirkitulu. (The village's name was changed to Şirince (meaning "Pleasant") in 1926 by the governor of Izmir Province.)
According to an Ottoman account from 1650 there were only 18 tax paying individuals in Çirkince, all of whom were Orthodox Christians. In 1699 an English priest, Edmund Chishull visited the village and says that the whole population was Christian.
A nineteenth century visitor, Arundell, who came to the village twice in 1832 and 1833, states "the village is a considerable one, of at least 300 houses, all Greek: the principal language of the village is Turkish, though they know something of their own tongue". He notes that the women "dressed in the Turkish manner, covering their faces"....and the men "all armed as the Turks, with pistols and yatagan (a type of long knife) and are renowned for having killed a lot of pirates from the island of Samos". He estimated the population as "probably fifteen hundred persons".
The village was a successful agricultural community growing vines, tobacco, figs, olives and vegetables. They had sheep goats, dairy cows and bee hives.
By 1908/1909 the yearbook (Salname) states that the village had more than 1,000 houses, all inhabited by Greek Orthodox Christians. "Their mother tongue is Turkish and they speak it with an ancient dialect".
The Ottoman administration in the area continued until 1919 when the invading Greek army took control and remained in charge until 1922.
Şirince was repopulated by Turks, also from northern Greece: a mosque was erected and the wine tradition was preserved. Even today it is possible to taste the exceptional local wines (whose flavors range from raspberry to peach, from pomegranate to mulberry) in the many bars and cafes. In any case, if you decide to order an expensive wine, ask for it to be opened and served in front of you: some crooks top up the bottles with cheap wine, assuming that tourists will not notice the difference (and they are often right).

Sources:
https://www.lonelyplanetitalia.it/destinazioni/turchia/sirince
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9Eirince

So we first walk the village itself through the nice narrow streets and eventually continue on a path marked with white and red stripes. So it is apparently a documented route, but nevertheless it is not always easy to know exactly where to go. Along this stretch we follow paths and unpaved roads through the forest and we go up considerably. On this first part we mainly pass through pine forest, but we also pass through a fairly large open area where there has probably been logging recently. As is also the case in other pine forests on the southern coast of Turkey, we should be aware of the presence of Pine processionary, especially if we are in the company of animals such as dogs or horses.

Pine processionary - Take care!
The pine processionary (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) is a moth of the subfamily Thaumetopoeinae in the family Notodontidae, known for the irritating hairs of its caterpillars, their processions, and the economic damage they cause in coniferous forests. It is one of the most destructive species to pines and cedars in Central Asia, North Africa and southern Europe.
The species is notable for the behaviour of its caterpillars, which overwinter in tent-like nests high in pine trees, and which proceed through the woods in nose-to-tail columns, protected from predators by their severely irritating hairs.
The species is one of the few insects where the larva develops in winter in temperate zones. Global warming is causing the species to affect forests progressively further north. The urticating hairs of the caterpillar larvae cause harmful (and in some cases allergic) reactions, in humans and other mammals.
(source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_processionary )

But we should not exaggerate the problem either: it is especially advisable not to touch the nests and not to sit under them. After almost three kilometers we leave the marked route and continue on mostly unpaved dirt roads. Our route follows a kind of ridge (but it is never steep and there are no abysses anywhere). Until halfway with mainly coniferous forest and on the way back with more mixed and deciduous forest. There are also quite a few open spaces, so we often have beautiful views. On a clear day we can clearly see the Pamucak beaches, Kuşadası bay, Gümüşdağ, Ortaklar-Söke highway, Ortaklar, Mahmut Mountain, Keldağ, Bozdağ, Hacetdede peaks, of course depending on the exact place where we are.
On the last stretch back to Sirince we pass through an interesting piece of forest with even some chesnuts and then we gradually encounter more and more houses before we really get back to the village.
We now meander between the houses a little more than we did in the beginning of this hike, and so we have a good possibility to enjoy the local peculiarities and delights. Probably few of the hikers who walk this route will be able to resist the temptation to try a wine somewhere!
Enjoy it!

Some additional information:
The route is designed in a clockwise direction.
Time spent: total = 7 hours 11 minutes of which moving = 4 hours 28 minutes.
There are picnic tables after: absent.
There is drinking water after 13,2 kilometers.
The track is rather easy from a technical point of view, but there are some parts with a lot of stones, so it's not a good idea to go out with sandals.
Presence of white-red signposts:
Outside the village, on the first three kilometers

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