# Prinkipo Greek Orphanage: Europe's Largest Wooden Ruin

*History & War · Eleanor Hartwell · 2026-10-24*

## TL;DR

The Prinkipo Greek Orphanage on Büyükada was begun in the late 1890s as a luxury hotel called the Prinkipo Palas, designed by architect Alexandre Vallaury. When the hotel venture failed, benefactor Eleni Zarifi helped turn the building into an orphanage under Patriarch Joachim III. Today it is a protected wooden landmark awaiting restoration.

## Key facts

- Construction began around 1898 or 1899 on Büyükada, the largest of the Princes' Islands in Istanbul.
- It was designed by the architect Alexandre Vallaury and originally intended as a luxury hotel named the Prinkipo Palas.
- After the hotel project failed, it was repurposed as a Greek Orthodox orphanage with support linked to the benefactor Eleni Zarifi and Patriarch Joachim III.
- It is widely described as Europe's largest wooden building, though that ranking has not been verified against an authoritative inventory.
- Restoration has been discussed for years, with work on the site reported around 2020 under the direction of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

## Büyükada's Hotel That Never Was: The Birth of the Prinkipo Greek Orphanage

High on Hristos Hill, known to most as Monastery Hill, above the pine slopes of Büyükada, the largest of the Princes' Islands off Istanbul, stands a building that was never supposed to be an orphanage at all. The Prinkipo Greek Orphanage began life as a luxury hotel project, and the story of how it turned into a home for children starts at the very end of the nineteenth century.

Construction got underway around 1898 or 1899, bankrolled by a French company with a grand plan: a lavish hotel to be called "Prinkipo Palas." For the design they brought in Alexandre Vallaury, a French-origin Ottoman architect whose name still carries weight in Istanbul, and who was among the founding faculty of the institution that grew into Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. This was no amateur job. Then the plan hit a wall. The hotel permit could not be obtained, and just like that the whole venture fell apart.

### From Abandoned Shell to Children's Home

What happened next is where the story turns. Patriarch Joachim III stepped in and persuaded a wealthy Greek philanthropist named Eleni Zarifi to buy the half-finished structure from the French. Accounts put the purchase in the range of 3,700 gold coins, with Eleni Zarifi reported to have spent a further sum, around 1,000 gold coins, on top to convert the place into a proper orphanage. Those figures are widely repeated but the exact split has not been reliably confirmed. During that conversion a distinctive tower with a marble staircase was added, built deliberately as a fire-safety measure for a structure made almost entirely of wood.

The transfer of the children came quickly. In 1902 the orphanage attached to the Balıklı Greek Hospital in Yedikule was moved to this building, and in 1903 the Prinkipo Greek Orphanage officially opened its doors. From that year until 1964, the timber giant on the hill would echo with children's voices instead of hotel guests.

## Echoes in the Timber: What the Orphanage Became

For sixty-one years, from 1903 until 1964, the Prinkipo Greek Orphanage on Büyükada was a home for orphaned children. Then the doors closed, and the timber frame has stood empty ever since, a vast wooden silhouette watching the island from above. That long silence is only part of the story, though, because the building's life was never as simple as "orphanage, then ruin."

Children were not the only residents. When World War I broke out, the Kuleli Military High School moved its operations into the building. Later, the occupation years are said to have brought another kind of tenant: Greek immigrants sent to the island were reportedly housed within these walls. That specific detail has not been confirmed, so treat it as part of the building's lore rather than a settled record.

The orphanage's own timeline carries similar soft edges. Accounts mention the institution moving to Heybeliada at some point, though a distinct move there could not be reliably confirmed. What is well attested is the ending: the orphanage closed entirely in 1964, and nothing has lived inside since.

Standing on Monastery Hill, the structure now reads as a ghost overlooking the island. Beside it sits a smaller annex that once served as an administrative building and later as a primary school, weathered by the same decades. Empty windows, exposed timber, a silence where children's voices used to be. Even so, the building refuses to disappear, and that stubbornness is exactly what makes people stop and stare.

## Europe's Largest Wooden Building? The Architecture of the Prinkipo Greek Orphanage

Walk up to Monastery Hill on Büyükada and the first thing you notice is how quiet it is. Then the silhouette appears: a timber-frame giant, the Prinkipo Greek Orphanage, a building so vast it seems to have been dropped onto the hilltop by mistake. Turkish media routinely call it Europe's largest wooden building and the world's second-largest, a ranking you will see everywhere but will not find confirmed in any authoritative international inventory.

That uncertainty does nothing to soften the sight of it. The structure sits on Monastery Hill, known in older Greek as Hristos Hill, close to the Aya Yorgi monastery, and it was raised with a wooden frame system rather than stone or concrete. Think of the sheer amount of timber that took. People who see it for the first time usually say the same thing: one spark and it would be gone. It has stood for over a century anyway.

### Plain outside, spectacular within

The façade is not what you would expect from a building this size. There is no grand ornament, no carved stone entrance, just clean, restrained lines. The architect trusted proportion over decoration. Small projecting bay windows push out from the walls here and there, and they give the long front some rhythm, a bit of movement against all that flat wood.

The real surprise waits indoors. The theater hall carries detailed wood carvings, the kind of work that makes you wonder how many patient hands it took. The rest of the interior stays plain and functional, built for daily life rather than display. Rooms meant for children, not for guests in evening dress.

Stories about the building's scale circulate widely, and not all of them hold up. It is commonly described as five to six stories tall, though the precise distribution between the side sections and the rest has never been firmly confirmed. What is certain is the material: wood, all of it, held together by a frame system that has outlasted every prediction of its collapse.

## Waiting for Rescue: The 2020 Restoration Effort

In August 2020, BIMTAŞ, a company affiliated with the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB), finally started the restoration process on the Prinkipo Greek Orphanage on Büyükada, sending in a team of 70 people to prepare the project. That project was then delivered to the Fener Greek Patriarchate, the building's owner. The structure had been left to decay since the orphanage closed in 1964, so the move felt less like a routine repair and more like a last-minute rescue.

Why the urgency? Because the building is no ordinary fixer-upper. It is a timber-frame giant on Monastery Hill, and the work has to be handled with real delicacy: this is a historic structure sitting close to the edge of collapse, not a facade you slap a coat of paint on and walk away from. Budget figures in the millions of euros have been reported, including an estimate of 20 million euros, though that specific number could not be confirmed. Even so, it tells you the scale of what was being proposed.

As of August 2021, the project was reportedly waiting before a conservation board for approval. Istanbul restoration projects do go through these boards, but the specific board number and the exact August 2021 status could not be confirmed. Whether approval would come, whether the funding would materialize, or whether the paperwork would quietly gather dust again were all open questions. The hope was still there, tucked in a corner.


## Frequently asked questions

**What is the Prinkipo Greek Orphanage and where is it located?**

The Prinkipo Greek Orphanage is a vast timber building on Büyükada, the largest of the Princes' Islands off the coast of Istanbul. It stands on Monastery Hill, known in older Greek as Hristos Hill, near the Aya Yorgi monastery. It housed orphaned children from 1903 until 1964.

**Why was it built as a hotel?**

A French company began construction around 1898 or 1899 with plans for a luxury hotel called "Prinkipo Palas." The project collapsed when the required permit was never granted, leaving the half-finished shell without a purpose until the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate stepped in to give it a new life.

**Who was Alexandre Vallaury?**

Alexandre Vallaury was the French-origin Ottoman architect who designed the building. He was also one of the founding faculty of the institution that became Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. His design gives the structure its disciplined proportions and its elaborate interior woodwork, including the carved theater hall.

**How did Eleni Zarifi help?**

Patriarch Joachim III persuaded the philanthropist Eleni Zarifi to buy the building from the French company. Accounts put the purchase at around 3,700 gold coins, with a further 1,000 gold coins spent on the conversion, though the exact split could not be confirmed. A marble-staircase fire tower was added at that time.

**When did the orphanage close and why?**

The orphanage operated from 1903 until 1964. The building has stood empty ever since. The available account does not explain the reason for the closure, so the precise cause remains unrecorded here.

**What is the restoration status?**

BIMTAŞ, an affiliate of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, launched restoration work in August 2020 with a team of about 70 people. The project was delivered to the Fener Greek Patriarchate, the building's owner. As of August 2021, the project was reportedly awaiting approval, though the specific board and status could not be confirmed.

**How large is it?**

The Prinkipo Greek Orphanage is widely described as Europe's largest wooden building and the world's second-largest. That ranking is repeated across Turkish media but has not been confirmed against an authoritative international inventory, so treat the superlative with a little caution.

**What happened during World War I?**

When World War I broke out, the Kuleli Military High School was relocated into the building. For a stretch of the war years, the corridors that had echoed with children's voices instead housed cadets, before the orphanage resumed its original role. Editorial note: Details that remain unconfirmed, including the precise dates of later restoration work and the building's current condition, are presented as such and should be treated with caution.

Canonical: https://curio.madeda.com/prinkipo-greek-orphanage-europe-s-largest-wooden-ruin/