The history of the Turkish ghost town of castles

530 Disney-style palaces are collapsing near the village of Mudurnu

There was once an idea to build a hotel complex for the super-rich, who could see an endless field of fairytale castles, wherever they turned from the terrace of their own palace.

However, the project stalled and instead today is the most incredible ghost town in Turkey.

The complex is called Burj al-Babas and is located near the historic town of Mudurnu in northwestern Turkey, about 250km from Istanbul on the road to Ankara.

If you go there today, you will see hundreds of unfinished villas with towers and terraces with ornaments.

Some of them have already begun to collapse, and at the peak of their construction, these properties were offered at space prices. The idea was for buyers to attract wealthy people from the Middle East – those who like to spend their holidays in Turkey because of the pleasant Mediterranean climate.

The village was built in an area with mineral springs and each villa had underfloor heating and Jacuzzi on each floor. According to the plans, there should be lush greenery and artificial lakes, as well as a giant mall.

The style of the castle villas is influenced by Gothic, traditional British and American architecture, as well as the Maiden’s Tower and Galata Tower in Istanbul.

Each Disney-style chateau sold for between $ 400,000 and $ 500,000. More than 300 properties were sold before things went awry. The drastic drop in oil prices has affected potential buyers, and the economic crisis in Turkey has further aggravated the situation. Since 2019, the project has been frozen.

None of the 530 villas has been completed and at least for now there is no prospect of this happening soon.

If your place seems familiar from somewhere, you may have seen it in the video for the song “Lose control” by MEDUZA, Becky Hill and Goodboys from 2019.