Turkey's abandoned hotel heritage is as varied as the country itself — from the Belle Époque Orient Express casino on a Princes' Island that never served a single guest to the derelict Aegean coastal resorts of a 1970s tourism boom that never found a second wind. The Prinkipo Palace on Büyükada, conceived in 1898 for wealthy European travelers arriving on the Orient Express, was forbidden from opening as a casino by Sultan Abdul Hamid II and spent its entire existence as something other than what it was designed to be. Discover the 5 best abandoned hotels in Turkey, selected from our Turkey Urbex Map — 200+ verified GPS locations across Turkey and Cyprus.
Why Turkey Offers a Remarkable Range of Derelict Hotel Heritage
The abandonment of Turkish hotels reflects the turbulent arc of the country's modern history — late Ottoman cosmopolitan ambition, republican-era neglect of minority community infrastructure, 1970s coastal tourism overreach, and the specific economic crises that periodically collapse Turkish property development. Each era produced a distinct typology of abandoned hospitality: Belle Époque wooden palaces, mid-century Aegean resort blocks, and half-finished luxury complexes in remote Anatolian valleys.
1. Prinkipo Greek Orthodox Orphanage – Büyükada, Princes' Islands — Designed in 1898 as the Orient Express Luxury Hotel, Never Opened as a Casino, Largest Wooden Building in Europe, Abandoned Since 1964 (Known Location)
The Prinkipo Greek Orphanage is a historic 20,000-square-meter wooden building on Büyükada, considered the largest wooden building in Europe and the second largest in the world. It was designed and built in 1898 by French-Ottoman architect Alexander Vallaury as a luxury hotel and casino for the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, the European passenger train company that operated the Orient Express. However, it never opened as a hotel. Acquired in 1903 and converted into an orphanage, it operated until 1964 and then stood abandoned for six decades. Fires in 1980 and subsequent water damage have brought the structure to the brink of collapse. Listed by Europa Nostra as one of the continent's most endangered heritage sites, the building is extraordinary even from outside the perimeter fence.
🔗 Source: Wikipedia – Prinkipo Greek Orthodox Orphanage
2. Burj Al Babas Resort Complex – Mudurnu, Bolu Province — Thermal Hotel & 583-Castle Development, $200 Million, Bankrupt 2019, Shopping Centre Shell Abandoned (Known Location)
Beyond the iconic castle chateaux themselves, the Burj Al Babas development included a large shopping and entertainment centre building and Ottoman-style thermal bath complex — both abandoned in various states of completion when the Sarot Group filed for bankruptcy. The Sarot Group had the idea to construct 732 castles, plus a shopping and entertainment centre and Turkish baths from natural hot springs. The resort infrastructure shell — incomplete retail units, unfinished spa halls, and the central entertainment complex — represents a different scale of abandonment from the residential chateaux and one that is largely overlooked by visitors drawn by the castle photographs.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Abandoned Places in Turkey →
3. Derelict 1970s Aegean Coastal Resort — Turkish Aegean Coast — Post-Boom Abandonment, Concrete Modernist Architecture, Sea Views, Mediterranean Scrub Reclaiming the Grounds
Turkey's Aegean coast experienced a frantic hotel construction boom in the late 1960s and 1970s, driven by the arrival of package tourism from Northern Europe. Several of these concrete modernist resort blocks — built quickly, with sea views but without long-term maintenance plans — have since been abandoned as newer facilities captured the market or as ownership disputes left buildings in legal limbo. The specific 1970s architectural character, the Mediterranean scrub reclaiming the grounds, and the extraordinary Aegean sea views behind rusting balconies create a coastal dereliction experience found nowhere else in Turkey. GPS in our Turkey Urbex Map.
4. Abandoned Thermal Spa Hotel – Western or Central Anatolia — Ottoman-Era Hot Spring Heritage, Decommissioned Treatment Halls, Thermal Pool Infrastructure (Exclusively on Our Map)
Anatolia sits above one of the world's richest geothermal zones — hot springs used since Roman and Byzantine times for healing and relaxation. Several Ottoman-era and early Republican thermal spa hotels that served this tradition stand in various states of dereliction across western and central Turkey: treatment halls with original ceramic tile work, thermal pool basins long empty of water and the specific atmosphere of a wellness tradition abandoned when modern spa resorts drew the clientele away. The combination of Ottoman decorative architecture and the functional infrastructure of thermal medicine creates a hotel abandonment experience unlike anywhere else in Europe. GPS in our Turkey Urbex Map.
5. Former Mountain Resort Lodge – Uludağ or Turkish Highlands — Republican-Era Ski and Health Tourism Infrastructure, Timber Lodge Architecture, Alpine Setting (Off the Radar — Our Map Only)
Turkey's mountain resorts — particularly Uludağ near Bursa and the highlands of the Black Sea region — hosted an early Republican-era tourism infrastructure of timber lodge hotels and health retreat facilities built for the urban middle class escaping the Anatolian summer heat. Several of these 1930s–1950s mountain lodges have been bypassed by the development of modern ski infrastructure and stand in various states of dereliction in the highland forest: the timber construction weathering in the mountain climate, the wooden verandas sagging and the specific atmosphere of interwar Turkish modernity abandoned in an alpine setting. Find them on our Turkey Urbex Map.
❓ FAQ
What is the most famous derelict hotel in Turkey?
The Prinkipo Greek Orthodox Orphanage on Büyükada — designed in 1898 as a luxury Orient Express casino hotel that never opened, converted to an orphanage until 1964 and now standing in advanced decay as the largest wooden building in Europe. Listed by Europa Nostra as one of the continent's seven most endangered heritage sites. For modern spectacle, the Burj Al Babas resort infrastructure — abandoned alongside 583 castle chateaux in a Bolu pine forest — is among the most surreal hospitality ruins on earth.
Can I visit the Prinkipo Orphanage?
The building is surrounded by a stone wall topped with metal fencing — interior access is not safely possible and the structure is at genuine risk of collapse. The exterior and grounds are viewable from the perimeter. Take the ferry from Kabataş to Büyükada (90 minutes, multiple daily sailings) and walk or cycle 1.6km south from the ferry terminal.
Are there abandoned hotels on the Turkish coast?
Yes — several derelict 1970s-era resort blocks stand along Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean coastline, bypassed by the development of modern all-inclusive resorts. Our Turkey Urbex Map covers the verified accessible coastal dereliction sites with current access ratings and photography notes.
Safety Tips
- Prinkipo fence: the building is at genuine structural risk — exterior photography only, never attempt to breach the perimeter fence
- Wooden structures: fire-damaged and water-compromised wooden hotels can have floor structures that give no warning before failure — always test each floor section before committing weight
- Coastal heat: Aegean resort sites reach 40°C+ in summer — visit early morning and carry substantial water
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person and share your location
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