Listening to Sultanahmet

This walk is an invitation to experience Istanbul through listening and steeping in its everyday life. With some inspiration from a 1947 poem by the Turkish modernist poet Orhan Veli, "I Am Listening to Istanbul” that spoke of a walk through the Grand Bazaar, Mahmutpaşa, and courtyards "full of pigeons,", this sensory walk follows some of that same geography — in today’s living Sultanahmet. You start at the Hippodrome, once the heart of public life and still a busy public square. From there, you move through the older streets of Sultanahmet — and into the living city that sits between its monuments. Hatice takes you through the market alleys of Mahmutpaşa, into a working ceramic studio where the tiles are made by hand, past centuries-old fountains and courtyards. The walk ends at the Yeni Mosque courtyard by the Golden Horn — with a tasting of simit from a street cart, Turkish coffee brewed the slow way, and seafood brought in as it always has been, straight off the boats at Eminönü.

This private tour brings you in touch with Sultanahmet's life through engaging stories and human connections. Hatice’s walk takes you into the living city: artisans, market vendors, everyday encounters. The streets carry the old guilds' names — jewelers, carpet sellers, hat makers – and some of the trades are still active. Her conversations are personal — stories she grew up with, history she has studied, insights about the courtyards and fountains, and people she has known for years – like the tile-maker whose family has done this for generations, or the people who have made regional delicacies in the same stalls for years – some of whom you get to meet on this walk. What you notice throughout are the sounds of Sultanahmet: the coppersmith’s hammer, vendors at their stalls, people going about their day in bustling backstreets full of character, footsteps on cobbles, pigeons landing on stone, and boat horns that can be heard all the way from the docks.

Hatice Kelek grew up in Istanbul and trained formally — a Master's in tour guiding from Ege University – as a licensed cultural guide, working across Turkey in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. With a deep love for her country's history, she tells stories of the people who lived it: the sultan's mother who commissioned the fountain you're standing in front of, the ceramic artist whose studio you'll visit, the man who has been baking simit on the same corner. Her hope for guests is simple: that they leave loving Istanbul, and understanding that its history is still being made by people you can meet on an ordinary afternoon.

Comfortable walking shoes with grip (the walk covers ~5 km with cobbled streets and some slopes). A light shawl or scarf (useful if you look into any mosque courtyard).