Gül Erdem

I studied archaeology in Ankara and came back to Izmir to work at the Agora excavation, first as a site assistant and later training as a guide once I had answered enough visitor questions to know what people actually want explained. I like showing how the ancient marketplace sits below the modern street level, since that contrast tells its own story about the city. On camera I try to point the phone downward into the trenches rather than just across the columns, so viewers see the layers rather than a flat ruin. I always end at Kadifekale, looking down at how far the city has spread since.