The Prinkipo Greek Orphanage, a historic wooden building on the Turkish island of Prinkipo, is slated for a significant transformation into a five-star luxury hotel. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Eastern Orthodox Church has signed an agreement with Greek and Turkish investment companies to redevelop the structure, which has been in decline for years.
The orphanage, which housed hundreds of children from Constantinople's Greek community between 1903 and 1964, is one of Europe's largest wooden buildings. Originally constructed in the late 1800s, it was intended to be a hotel named Prinkipo Palace but never served that purpose before being repurposed as an orphanage.
The building's condition has deteriorated significantly since its closure, with parts of the wooden structure collapsing over time. In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Ecumenical Patriarchate held ownership of the property. However, past attempts to fund its restoration for use as a center for interfaith dialogue and environmental studies failed due to prohibitive costs.
The agreement to transform the orphanage into a hotel was described as "highly symbolic" by Patriarch Bartholomew, potentially serving as a gesture of friendship between Turkey and Greece. The Patriarch noted that the decision to allow the conversion was difficult but deemed necessary to prevent the building from succumbing entirely to decay.
The original design for the building, by French-Ottoman architect Alexandre Vallaury, included plans for a casino, which were ultimately abandoned when permission was denied. The structure was later purchased by Eleni Zarifi, who then donated it to the Ecumenical Patriarchate for use as an orphanage.
