Meet with your tour guide at the hotel lobby in the morning and Sirince is a village on the borders of Selcuk, which is a town in Izmir and only 7 km away. Sirince is located on a plateau, behind a beautiful valley and surrounded by mountains. There are remains of 42 churches and monasteries in and around the village that is why Sirince is also known as Ephesus in the mountains. Sirince is one of the Government Protected Areas (G. R. A) Of Izmir and so most of its original authentic buildings are well preserved, especially the two churches in the village centre. According to a Greek female journalist's novel "Tell my Regards to Anatolia" and Sabahattin Ali's work "Crystal Kiosk". It is very nice to wonder among the months of April and May. In 431A.C, during the 3rd General Council meeting on the principles of Christianity, it was said that virgin Mary was buried in Sirince. At the meeting they put forward a thesis supporting this fact and that Virgin Mary was mother or the human Jesus Christ. Nestorius, the Patriarch of Istanbul talked about this thesis and defended it fervently in Istanbul. This caused a big commotion and so the Emperor, Theodosius asked for another meeting to be held in Ephesus. The Patriarch of Istanbul, Nestorius, the Patriarch of Alexandria, Anthiokheia, and Patriarch Jean, representative of Ephesus and the Pope took part in this meeting with 200 other religious men. During the meeting it was proven and recorded for the first time that Virgin Mary was buried in Ephesus. The house on the "Mountain of Nightingale" which is situated within the borders of Selcuk was accepted as Virgin Mary's last resting House. It was stated that St Jean brought Virgin Mary 4 or 6 years after the death of Jesus Christ and they stayed in a building near the remains of Council Churc (Virgin Marys Church) for a short time. While Christianity was spreading, Virgin Mary was hidden in the Mountain of Nightingale and her disciples living in Sirince protected her and provided her with food and clothing through secret means. After her death, her disciples took her body to a cave in Sirince and buried her secretly, covering the caves mouth with a rock. It is believed that a part of the bible written by St Jean on Antelope Leather was left in that cave. Sirince's construction style today belongs to Anatolian Greeks. The houses on the slope are all original with their white paint. There is a good view at the entrance of the village and its streets are also wonderful. Sirince is very popular for its building style, houses, streets and apple wine made by the villagers. In 1922 the Anatolian Greeks emigrated back to Greece and Turks coming from Greece settled there. After the tour, transfer back to your hotel. We hope your tour was a memorable one and we look forward to seeing you in the future on another TravelShop Booking Tour. Have a safe trip back home and thanks for choosing TravelShop Booking.