Juliana
- Licensed guide
- Portuguese, Spanish, English and Turkish
- Lives in Istanbul
- Português
- Español
- English
- Türkçe
How it started
I arrived in Türkiye as a traveller, with a return ticket and no plan beyond a week. What I found was a city that does not resolve itself quickly — and that turned out to be the reason to stay.
Why I stayed
A week became a season, and a season became an address. Learning the language changed what the city was willing to show me: the same streets, read differently.
How I guide
I keep groups small and days unhurried. I would rather stand in one courtyard long enough for it to make sense than photograph four of them. If you tell me what you care about, the day is built around that rather than around a list.
“I think the best way to know Istanbul is to leave enough room for the unexpected.”
The places I return to.
Hagia Sophia
For a thousand years the largest cathedral in the world, then a mosque, then a museum, and a mosque again today.
“I go early, before ten, when the light comes through the dome and you can still hear your own steps.”
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The Basilica Cistern
Three hundred and thirty-six columns under the street, holding the water of a city that could be besieged.
“I bring people here when they have had enough sun. It is fifteen degrees inside and nobody hurries.”
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The Süleymaniye Mosque
The mosque Sinan built at his height, on the one hill from which you see the whole city.
“The courtyard has the best view of the Golden Horn and almost nobody walks up to it.”
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The Spice Bazaar
An L of vaults beside the harbour, built to pay for the mosque next door.
“This is where I buy what I take home. The streets around it are better than the market itself.”
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The Galata Tower
The tower of a foreign colony that ended up inside the city surrounding it.
“The view is better late in the afternoon, but the climb is worth more for the neighbourhood than the tower.”
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