Tuesday, July 14, 2026

What are the most fascinating abandoned cities?

 In Burj Al Babas, Türkiye, there are houses shaped like little castles:

They are completely empty.

It was supposed to be a luxury community. The project was put on hold during Turkey's economic crisis. Only 587 of the 732 structures were completed. They would have cost around half a million dollars to purchase.

The holding company filed for bankruptcy protection, leaving a ghost town.

Thus the villas were never completed as not enough buyers could be found.

The timing was simply bad, given that the country had excessive inflation and other problems. So for now, they remain intact.

The problem with houses like these is that if you have $400,000, you usually don't want to buy a house that's exactly the same as every other house in the neighborhood.

You would like to try to be unique at that point.

At least, they're certainly fun to watch.