Inside Burj Al Babas The Abandoned 200 Million Turkish Ghost Town

Hundreds of nearly-identical castles appear to be copied and pasted onto this Turkish hillside — but not a soul lives there.

Like this gallery?Share it:

Flipboard

And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts:

Inside The Eerie Ghost Town Of Centralia, Pennsylvania That’s Been On Fire Since 1962

34 Unforgettable Photos Of China’s Massive, Uninhabited Ghost Cities

Inside “Peace Village,” The Ghost Town On The Border of North and South Korea

1 of 25ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images 2 of 25ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images 3 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook 4 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook 5 of 25Yücel Battal/Foursquare 6 of 25ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images 7 of 25Burj Al Babas 8 of 25ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images 9 of 25Burj Al Babas 10 of 25ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images 11 of 25Burj Al Babas 12 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook 13 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook 14 of 25Yücel Battal/Foursquare 15 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook 16 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook 17 of 25ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images 18 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook 19 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook 20 of 25Burj Al Babas 21 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook 22 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook 23 of 25ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images 24 of 25 25 of 25Like this gallery?Share it:

Flipboard

23 Eerie Photos Taken Inside Burj Al Babas, The Turkish Ghost Town Filled With Fairytale Castles View Gallery

Imagine a rolling landscape of towering, pristine castles almost as far as your eyes can see. It sounds breathtaking — and it is — just probably not in the way you’d think. These Disney-esque villas are in a Turkish housing development called Burj al Babas, and it’s completely abandoned.

Like this gallery?Share it:

Flipboard

And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts:

Inside The Eerie Ghost Town Of Centralia, Pennsylvania That’s Been On Fire Since 1962

34 Unforgettable Photos Of China’s Massive, Uninhabited Ghost Cities

Inside “Peace Village,” The Ghost Town On The Border of North and South Korea

Flipboard

Like this gallery?Share it:

Flipboard

And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts:

Inside The Eerie Ghost Town Of Centralia, Pennsylvania That’s Been On Fire Since 1962

34 Unforgettable Photos Of China’s Massive, Uninhabited Ghost Cities

Inside “Peace Village,” The Ghost Town On The Border of North and South Korea

Flipboard

Like this gallery?Share it:

Flipboard

And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts:

Inside The Eerie Ghost Town Of Centralia, Pennsylvania That’s Been On Fire Since 1962

34 Unforgettable Photos Of China’s Massive, Uninhabited Ghost Cities

Inside “Peace Village,” The Ghost Town On The Border of North and South Korea

Flipboard

Share
Flipboard
Email

Flipboard

1 of 25ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

2 of 25ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

3 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook

4 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook

5 of 25Yücel Battal/Foursquare

6 of 25ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

7 of 25Burj Al Babas

8 of 25ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

9 of 25Burj Al Babas

10 of 25ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

11 of 25Burj Al Babas

12 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook

13 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook

14 of 25Yücel Battal/Foursquare

15 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook

16 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook

17 of 25ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

18 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook

19 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook

20 of 25Burj Al Babas

21 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook

22 of 25Burj Al Babas/Facebook

23 of 25ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

24 of 25

25 of 25Like this gallery?Share it:

Flipboard

23 Eerie Photos Taken Inside Burj Al Babas, The Turkish Ghost Town Filled With Fairytale Castles View Gallery

23 Eerie Photos Taken Inside Burj Al Babas, The Turkish Ghost Town Filled With Fairytale Castles

View Gallery

Empty Wallets Mean Empty Castles

Located approximately halfway between Istanbul and Ankara, the empty town consists of hundreds of almost identical castles in various states of completion. Developers meant for these uniform villas to be luxury vacation homes for wealthy tourists when they began construction in 2014. However, when the company went bankrupt in 2018, investors pulled out of the deal which put construction on hold.

The development cost a cool $200 million to build thus far. But instead of a grandiose, multi-million dollar retreat, Burj al Babas has become something out of a dystopian novel.

Drone footage of the abandoned villas of Burj al Babas.

The French chateaux-style castle exteriors are styled with ornate facades, Juliet balconies and round turrets that adorn them. But inside are half-finished rooms. Some look as though workers dropped their tools mid-job and walked out. This lends itself to the eerie feeling one might get from gazing upon a fleet of homes with nary a soul in sight.

Drone footage of the abandoned villas of Burj al Babas.

Workers completed 587 of Burj Al Babas’ 732 planned buildings. There were also plans to build movie theaters, sports facilities, and Turkish baths.

The castles originally came with a $400,000 to $500,000 price tag, and a handful actually did sell. But with the uncertain future of the project, some of the sales had to be canceled.

The hefty construction project was heavily endorsed by the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He believed the infrastructure jobs and real estate sales would be a boon to the country’s economy. However, the weakened Turkish lira is making it extremely difficult for businesses to repay the foreign debts accumulated to finance large construction projects.

The Future Of Burj Al Babas

In 2018, Turkey relaxed the financial criteria for foreigners to become citizens. The move is hoped to double the country’s annual property investments.

As for Burj al Babas, all hope for the picaresque luxury community is not lost — at least not yet.

“We only need to sell 100 villas to pay off our debt,” said Mezher Yerdelen, deputy chair of the Sarot Property Group. “I believe we can get over this crisis in four to five months and partially inaugurate the project in 2019.”

In the meantime, these gothically beautiful castles sit in the rolling hills of Turkey, like elegant ladies in waiting.

After seeing these haunting photos of Burj Al Babas, peer into Japan’s abandoned and secretive Hashima Island, then find out about the 2,000 year-old dirty joke found in an ancient Turkish bathroom.

Hundreds of nearly-identical castles appear to be copied and pasted onto this Turkish hillside — but not a soul lives there.#

Empty Wallets Mean Empty Castles#

The Future Of Burj Al Babas#

Hundreds of nearly-identical castles appear to be copied and pasted onto this Turkish hillside — but not a soul lives there.

Empty Wallets Mean Empty Castles

The Future Of Burj Al Babas