An orphanage on a little-known Turkish island is being converted into a luxury five-star hotel.
The Greek orphanage Prinkipo housed children between 1903 and 1964 before being closed by Turkish authorities.
It is located on Prinkipo Island – one of the Princes’ Islands – and is known as one of the largest wooden buildings in Europe.
The building is a reminder of the Greek presence in Turkey and was originally built in the late 19th century to become a hotel named Prinkipo Palace, although it was never used as such.
Now the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Eastern Orthodox Church has signed an agreement allowing the building to be converted into a hotel.
Officials agreed that Greek and Turkish investment companies would redevelop and restore the historic structure on June 15 Greek reporter.
The Greek orphanage Prinkipo is located on the little-known Turkish island of Prinkipo
It was built at the end of the 19th century and used as an orphanage between 1903 and 1964
The condition of the orphanage has deteriorated since its closure and parts of the wooden building have collapsed over the years.
In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights decided that the Ecumenical Patriarchate became the owner of the building.
However, the restoration proved too expensive and the new agreement allowed it to be redeveloped into a five-star resort.
The building was designed by the French-Ottoman architect Alexandre Vallaury and was originally intended as a casino within the hotel.
However, the plans were scrapped after permission for the casino was refused, according to The Religious News Network.
It was subsequently purchased by Eleni Zarifi, who donated the structure to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Eastern Orthodox Church to be used as an orphanage for children from the Greek community of Constantinople.
The condition of the orphanage has deteriorated since its closure and parts of the wooden building have collapsed over the years
Patriarch Bartholomew previously reflected on efforts to secure funding to restore the site and turn it into a center for interfaith dialogue and environmental studies.
He told The Religious News Network how “all these attempts failed.”
The patriarch admitted that the decision to have the building transformed into a hotel was difficult but inevitable before it deteriorated to the point that it became “one with the earth.”
But the agreement between Turkish and Greek developers has been described by the patriarch as “highly symbolic” and could serve as a symbol of friendship between the two countries.
