Elif Yılmaz

I am a licensed professional guide, with a degree in art history from Istanbul University and sixteen years of work in Sultanahmet. People come to Istanbul with a list of three buildings: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapı. I do not argue with the list. I try to make the three buildings make sense, the Byzantine emperors, the Ottoman sultans and the way each one answered the other in stone. I also guide Topkapı Palace with the Harem, the Basilica Cistern and the backstreets below the Süleymaniye, where the old caravanserais still hold workshops. I speak German because I studied a year in Heidelberg. I am punctual and I expect a little of the same. These days I guide Istanbul live on video: I walk the streets with my phone and answer your questions as we go.