The Greek Orthodox Orphanage of Prinkipo, the historic wooden building of 20,000 square meters on Prinkipo—one of the nine Princes’ Islands off Constantinople, in Turkey, in the Sea of Marmara—will become a hotel. The news was announced by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during the opening of an exhibition on the history of the Prinkipo Orphanage, hosted at the island’s museum.

The exhibition was organized by the Islands Foundation (Adalar Vakfi), with the assistance of historians, researchers, and representatives of the Patriarchate. In his speech, the head of the Orthodox Church referred to the history and contribution of the Orphanage, while also speaking extensively about the future use of the site, which will ultimately operate as a hotel. As he explained, the Patriarchate’s multiple attempts to secure the particularly large amount of money required to save the wooden structure—which has collapsed in many places—did not bear fruit.

“Tonight, on this spring evening, I am among the people of Prinkipo, the islanders, our fellow citizens, together with the beloved brother Metropolitan of the Princes’ Islands, the Mayor, and all of you distinguished guests present here, and we share a common interest, a love, an affection for this imposing building of our Orphanage, which embraced so many orphaned children of the Greek community for many decades. We bless the memory of the late Eleni Zarifi, who purchased it and offered it to the Church so that it could become an orphanage. We remember with gratitude all the directors and teachers who protected and educated the children of the Greek community on the Hill of Christ,” the Ecumenical Patriarch initially noted, adding as he recalled that era:

“When I was a student at Halki, many times on Sunday afternoons, after the liturgy and lunch, the school supervisor—whoever it happened to be at the time—would bring all of us students from Halki up to the Orphanage. We would spend time with the orphaned children, play football with them, and I have sweet memories from those beautiful years. Many times we did not go to the Orphanage on Sunday afternoons, but instead went to Saint Spyridon on Halki or to Antigoni and Proti, especially around this season in autumn. In autumn, when the schools reopened, we would go for walks and eat strawberry tree fruit. You islanders know and remember all these things.”

“It Would Have Become One with the Ground”

At that point, Bartholomew thanked “from the bottom of my heart all our Turkish friends who contributed to the effort to highlight and preserve the memory of our Orphanage, and especially from the Greek community, Archon Mr. Vingas, who in recent years worked very hard to secure all the necessary permits and to communicate with Europa Nostra, with Turkish scientists and university professors, in order to prepare what we as the Church, as the Holy and Sacred Synod, ultimately decided to do: namely, to transform the Orphanage building into a profitable hotel that will also upgrade the Princes’ Islands.”

The Ecumenical Patriarch explained that this decision was made because “all the efforts we made to gather the required large amount of money for the restoration of the Orphanage, with the aim of turning it into two international centers—one for interfaith dialogue and one for ecological studies and research—failed. In the end, the Church, having no other solution, decided to convert it into a hotel. Of course, it was not an easy decision, especially from an emotional point of view, but it was a necessary decision before the building became one with the ground, before it was completely flattened.”

According to the Ecumenical Patriarch, the project has been undertaken by “a Turkish company, in cooperation with a Greek company, and this is very symbolic: that the Orphanage ultimately becomes a symbol of unity, cooperation, and friendship between Greece and Turkey. And through the efforts again of Mr. Vingas and his associates, we will all soon see the works begin, once the necessary permits are issued.”

It is noted that at the event—attended by the local Metropolitan Elder Demetrios of the Princes’ Islands, scientists, and many residents of Prinkipo and Constantinople—addresses were also delivered by the Mayor of the Islands, Ali Ercan Akpolat, and Archon Grand Chartophylax of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Panteleimon Vingas, who has worked for many years on the case of the Orphanage.