The Prinkipo Greek Orthodox Orphanage, Europe’s largest wooden structure off the coast of Istanbul, is set to be converted into a hotel after years of unsuccessful attempts to secure restoration funding, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said on Friday.
For more than half a century, the historic structure served thousands of children until Turkish authorities shut it down in 1964. Since then, the five-story building has been in a state of despair, with parts of it already collapsing. In 2010 and after lengthy legal battles, the European Court of Human Rights ordered its return to the Patriarchate.
The announcement was made during his address at the opening ceremony of an exhibition dedicated to the history of the landmark institution, held on May 22, at the Museum of Prinkipo.
The Ecumenical Patriarch expressed his deep gratitude to everyone involved in the ongoing efforts to rescue and promote the historic structure. Speaking at the event, which highlighted the orphanage’s long-standing cultural and historical contributions, he placed special emphasis on the newly approved plan to repurpose what is recognized as Europe’s largest wooden building.
The Ecumenical Patriarch did not shy away from the severe difficulties still facing the rescue of the massive timber structure, pointing out that astronomical restoration costs and extensive structural decay remain the primary obstacles to its preservation.
According to the Patriarch, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has made repeated attempts to secure the financial resources required to save the historic building. However, these efforts have yet to yield a definitive solution because the cost of full restoration remains exceptionally high, and parts of the wooden edifice have already suffered severe collapses.
The Patriarchate said the decision was made “with respect for the legacy of the orphanage, which served the community for many years,” and in the hope that the project would contribute to the economic, social, and cultural development of the Princes’ Islands, officially Adalar.
The Greek Orthodox orphanage was built in 1898 by French-Ottoman architect Alexandre Vallaury as a luxury hotel, the “Prinkipo Palace,” but Sultan Abdul Hamid II never issued operating permits. In 1903, it was bought by Eleni Zarifi, the wife of a prominent Greek banker, who donated it to the Ecumenical Patriarchate to be used as an orphanage. The massive, five-story orphanage has several wings, which accommodate a total of 206 rooms.
Millions were needed to restore Istanbul’s Greek orphanage prior to decision to transform it into a hotel
In 2019, the leading European heritage organization Europa Nostra and the European Investment Bank (EIB) Institute stated in a report that a restoration of the Prinkipo Greek Orthodox orphanage in Istanbul would cost at least 40 million euros. Furthermore, the ambitious project would take four to five years to complete, according to the report.
“There are many caveats and uncertainties making it impossible to provide a reasonable and fair estimate of the full project costs. However,” the report reads, “on the basis of the opinions expressed by several external experts, it is reasonable to expect the project to require a total investment of at least 40 million [euros] (a figure that, depending on many factors, could be much higher).”
The report from the Europa Nostra and EIB Institute came as the result of a three-day mission to Turkey, as well as a structural report produced by Clive Dawson, a structural engineer with wide-ranging experience in historic buildings, who visited the site in April 2019.
“As far as the site is currently abandoned to decay, an immediate preliminary intervention should be quickly designed, planned and implemented to protect the buildings from further deterioration,” it was stated in the report.
The organization and the EIB also said that the Istanbul-based Greek Orthodox Patriarch would be responsible for raising the necessary funds for financing the main repair work and for carrying out the implementation of the project since it is the legal owner of the site.
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