Who wouldn't want to live in a city filled with Disney castles? Well, Turkey’s Burj Al Babas development was meant to be such a one-of-a-kind project. It cost around £150 million to build but now lies abandoned. The project was once intended as a luxury retreat featuring hundreds of mini-palaces.
However, the whole thing stalled when Turkey’s economy faced financial challenges. Currently, nearly 600 completed castles sit empty, creating a huge ghost town, according to The New York Times. READ MORE: The country named Europe's 'scariest place' for drivers - it's not Italy Construction on Burj Al Babas began in 2014.
Plans to build over 700 luxury homes are aimed at wealthy clients, particularly from the Middle East. Each property had amenities like private pools, jacuzzis, and underfloor heating. Prices reached up to £440,000 ($542,000), with the town also designed to feature a shopping mall, restaurants, spas, and even a golf course.
However, financial struggles forced the developer, Sarot Group, to declare bankruptcy, halting construction and leaving the town unfinished. The project has become an eerie symbol of Turkey’s troubled construction sector. One of the buyers, Jassim Alfahhad, a Kuwaiti Air Force colonel, expressed his disappointment.
He described his excitement about owning a castle-inspired home in Turkey’s countryside. He told The Guardian: “That’s how the tragedy starts.” He then explained that the company had promised his castle would be complete.