Europe's largest wooden building in Istanbul awaits restoration

Built at the end of the 19th century on an island off Istanbul, this unique six-story structure once served as a home for Greek Orthodox orphans until it was shut down in the early 1960s.

And 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.

Situated atop a hill on Büyükada, 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 that historically operated the Orient Express. 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 the Orthodox community. 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.

With no one to care for it, the structure has been ravaged by Istanbul's ferocious winds, its blistering summers and frigid winters. Despite its dilapidated exterior, some of the 220 rooms inside still retain vestiges of splendor, such as the ballroom with its boxes and balconies, its columns and its once-lustrous parquet floors.

Today, Istanbul's Greek Orthodox minority, who only number around 3,000, are determined to save the dilapidated structure before time runs out. This summer, a team of experts will visit the site to assess how much work needs to be done to renovate the building - and the likely cost, a figure the Turkish media suggest could be as high as $50 million.

DAILY SABAH WITH AFP