If your travel soul craves the unexpected not just stunning views but tales of architectural ambition and mystery, then Turkey’s abandoned castle town, Burj Al Babas, is a must-see oddity that defies convention.
Just outside the quiet Ottoman-era town of Mudurnu, nestled in Turkey’s Bolu Province, sits a surreal colony of hundreds of identical stone castles. Designed to channel the elegance of French châteaux, these villas rise from the forested hills like something from a fantasy film set. Each has spired turrets, arched balconies, and dramatic facades in varying states of unfinished silence. From a distance, it looks like a Disney village waiting for inhabitants but up close, it tells a very different story.
Burj Al Babas was envisioned in 2014 as a luxury escape for wealthy Middle Eastern investors. Priced between $370,000 and $530,000, each mini-castle was part of a master plan that included cinemas, Turkish baths, and lush gardens. The developers chose the site carefully: close to thermal springs, and midway between Istanbul and Ankara, making it both secluded and accessible.
Yet within four years, the dream was derailed. The developers filed for bankruptcy in 2018 due to a perfect storm of economic collapse with falling oil prices, a plunging Turkish lira, and political instability that shook investor confidence. Of the planned 732 villas, only 587 were partially built. Not one was completed, and not a single family moved in.
Today, Burj Al Babas is silent but powerful. Strolling through its maze of empty turrets, you’ll hear your own footsteps echo off raw concrete interiors. Moss creeps where gardens should bloom. A soft fog often settles over the hills, wrapping each structure in melancholic beauty. It’s haunting, cinematic, and oddly moving – a perfect spot for lovers of abandoned places and modern mythology.
Though not officially open as a tourist site, the castles draw a steady trickle of explorers, photographers, and curious travellers. There’s talk of repurposing the site for tourism or film production, but for now, Burj Al Babas remains frozen – a village of dreams never lived.
For travellers looking to go off-script, this isn’t just another Instagrammable ruin. It’s a story you walk through and like the best kind of travel memory, it leaves you pondering long after your flight has departed.