KarDes is a mobile application designed as a personal tour guide in Turkish and English languages for users who wish to discover the multicultural legacy and multilayered fabric of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

With this application, KarDes users can discover a cultural inventory consisting of close to nine hundred sites such as mosques, synagogues, schools and cemeteries. As they walk along routes that make this multicultural legacy visible, they can hear hidden stories of the cities, told by well-known artists.

Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir are all crossroads for many different cultures, with a history going back many centuries. Although the sites we use, the buildings we pass by and the streets we walk down every day are all parts of rich stories, these stories usually lose that richness, forced into the shadow of standardized official narratives.

The “Discover” feature on the application helps users access the location, construction dates, and in some cases, brief information about cultural sites that they may encounter every day unawares, along with a comprehensive inventory of cities’ cultural legacy.

Working with the goal of making unknown sites in well-known neighborhoods visible and
allowing their stories to be told, KarDes’ 30 memory tours, each of which lasts an
average of two hours, reveals the multicultural pasts of the various areas. Prepared
through detailed research and consisting of nine to fifteen stops within walking distance
of each other, the texts of the memory tours have narrated voluntarily by artists Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan, Ayla Jean Yackley, Banu Güven, Berge Arabian, Berkay Ateş, Ceylan Ertem, Cüneyt Yalaz, Devin Özgür Çınar, Ece Dizdar, Ercan Kesal, Erdem Şenocak, Eric Nazarian, Esin Alpogan, Gülçin Kültür Şahin, Hale Soygazi, Hayko Cepkin, Kev Orkian, Lale Mansur, Mahir Günşiray, Nazan Kesal, Nejat İşler, Naz Göktan, Nişan Şirinyan, Nur Sürer, Onur Ünsal, Philip Arditti, Sarp Aydınoğlu, Serra Yılmaz, Shakeh Major Tchilingirian, Simon Johns, Songül Öden, Şerif Erol, Tilbe Saran, Tuğrul Tülek, Tülin Özen, Yekta Kopan and Yetkin Dikinciler.

Aiming to make visible the urban and social memory which has been on the verge of extinction, KarDes offers excerpts from neighborhood talks and oral history interviews, providing the opportunity for users to listen to the stories of these neighborhoods and their transformations from the voices of residents. With around 70 oral history interviews, KarDes presents the stories of sites in various neighborhoods through a dynamic narrative. Continually updated with new tours, KarDes lets you discover places like Yorgo’s Rose Garden, the Skating Palace, the Bulgar’s Meyhane, Atamyan Theater, Apoyevmatini Newspaper, the Kurd’s Tavern, Topalyans’ Store, Saint Clement Church, Dedeyan Publishing House; and hear the stories of Knar Svajian, Hayim Albukrek, Aliye Berger, Zaruhi Kavaljian, Sappho Leondias, Eftalya the Mermaid and Izak Algazi.