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TEHRAN, May 28 - Built at the end of the 19th century on an island off Istanbul, this unique six-storey structure once served as a home for Greek Orthodox orphans until it was shut down in the early 1960s.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - More than five decades later, the now dilapidated Prinkipo Greek Orthodox orphanage is at risk of collapse.
To try and save this architectural treasure -- described as the largest wooden construction in Europe and the second largest in the world -- cultural heritage NGO Europa Nostra has listed it as one of the continent's seven most endangered sites.
"It's a miracle it still stays standing," said Baytas, who spent more than 30 years guarding it.
Situated atop a hill on Buyukada, one of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, it is about 90 minutes by ferry from central Istanbul.
Originally conceived as a luxury casino hotel, the building was commissioned by the Compagnie des Wagons-Lits, the travel firm which historically operated the Orient Express.
The aim was to attract well-heeled European travellers who were flocking to Istanbul in great numbers at the height of the Belle Epoque, many arriving on the famous long-distance train.
Designed by Alexandre Vallaury, the Franco-Ottoman architect behind Istanbul's Pera Palace hotel, the hotel was completed in 1898 -- but never managed to get an operating licence from Sultan Abdulhamid II on grounds its gambling activities would be immoral.
With its grand plans floored, the timber-framed structure was sold to the wife of a rich banker from the city's Greek minority who gave it to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
And in 1903, the patriarchate turned it into an orphanage, which took care of nearly 5,800 Greek Orthodox orphans until its closure in 1964.
Source: AFP
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