The Deserted Kingdom of Burj al Babas: The luxury residential town that never was.

Ripley's Believe It or Not! ^ | February 8, 2024 | editors / unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

In the northwestern Turkish town of Mudurnu, a peculiar and ghostly sight awaits those who venture a few kilometers south...

Imagine stumbling upon a town of hundreds of Disney-inspired mini-palaces, complete with turrets and over-the-top glamorous towers. Burj Al Babas was intended to be a luxurious urban development, boasting 732 French-inspired châteaus.

However, economic challenges halted construction at 583 homes, leaving the landscape dotted with abandoned castles that were supposed to redefine opulence in the Middle East...

Sarot Group, the ambitious project developer, envisioned a community where Mediterranean climate and European aesthetics converged nestled in a massive valley at the base of Turkey’s northwestern mountains. The allure was not just in the lavish European architecture but also in the promise of Gothic-style rooftop terraces overlooking the lush Turkish forest.

The mini-palaces, each priced between £330,000 to £440,000, were designed to feature underfloor heating, Jacuzzis on every level, and access to a geothermal spring for a communal spa center. Each castle, veiled in a layer of snow during winter, was designed to offer a fairy-tale-like experience...

Despite investors and buyers pulling out in 2019, Sarot Group initially expressed confidence in completing the £200 million project. However, the pandemic dealt a severe blow, leaving Burj Al Babas in a state of abandonment. While not impossible, the likelihood of the project resuming now seems uncertain...

Despite its current state of disarray, Burj Al Babas, with its unseen interiors and picturesque surroundings, still hints at the European luxury it was meant to embody. As the world’s most expensive ghost town, it remains a sprawling enigma in northwestern Turkey—a testament to grand aspirations, unfortunate circumstances, and the unpredictable twists of fate.

[SunkenCiv]

Editorial credit: Esin Deniz / Shutterstock.com

[SunkenCiv]

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[metmom]

I’m surprised terrorists haven’t taken them over or islamists haven’t destroyed them.

[metmom]

I actually don’t think it’s that attractive.

[PLMerite]

Wow, at first glance I thought it was a tank trap:

[sjmjax]

Tacky and to “Disneyesque”.
Might have worked with more variations in the architecture.
Looks like a 60-70’s era track home development built by a child with a Cinderella complex.

[married21]

Future archaeologists will ponder this, and come to silly conclusions.

[metmom]

Exactly.

[SpaceBar]

The ‘build it and they will come’ model of real estate development is highly overrated.

[T.B. Yoits]

The ‘build it and they will come’ model of real estate development is highly overrated.

This is "how to launder money through real estate".

[Waverunner]

The Haunted mansion in Paris Disney... Coincidence... I think not

[minnesota_bound]

How do you find your home after partying or even if you are sober?

[Verginius Rufus]

Maybe some of the Hollywood elite can buy the houses and live there, far from Donald Trump’s America.

[cgbg]

This will be a future episode of Ancient Aliens.

Lol.

[Omnivore-Dan]

I think this was doomed from the start. Who wants to be in a make believe chateau that’s just like the one next door, on each side? No trees, no outdoor privacy, no individuality, no thanks.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

It reminds me of those "beach homes" where there is just row after row of identical houses.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

This will be a future episode of Ancient Aliens.

Or of Mysteries of the Abandoned, if they're still making that show.

[coloradan]

I detest neighborhoods with all-identical houses, or those with just a very few different floor plans.

Also, it’s hard to think that you’re a king, living in your castle, when the whole neighborhood is identical castles as far as the eye can see. It lessens the exclusivity.

[SunkenCiv]

Hey, if that were true, there wouldn’t have been a Holy Roman Empire. /GGGrimshot!

[SunkenCiv]

The developers were targeting a market of unsophisticated rubes have a lot of money and more-than-average need to hide from fellow muzzies once in a while. But, they needed to finish units instead of starting 300-500 (whatever the number really is) without finishing, say, 20 or 30.