Büyükada Orphanage

image via hayalleme.com

This past summer, I was swarmed by shiny new ideas, distracting me like fireflies. I suppose that's a good thing. I've got a couple of really decent ones that I'm planning to sit down and write a synopsis for in the not too distant future. Here's one location that's hovering around in my head, because setting is always my initial inspiration: Büyükada Orphanage, perched on the second highest point of the island.

Known to locals as the Red Palace, the orphanage was originally built by a French company as the Prinkipo Palas hotel. The luxury property was well equipped with a theater, dining hall, library, chapel, and (the Achilles heel) a game room for a planned casino on par with Monte Carlo. The hotel never opened because gambling is forbidden under Islamic law.

How on earth did someone think they could build a casino in the clearly Islamic Ottoman empire? There was a golden age of European investment in Turkey around the fin de siècle, amazing hotels included, but there seems to have been a change in local leadership by the time the hotel was being completed. Everybody's plans ran amok.

From what I can translate:

The Greek Orthodox community gathered funds, facilitated with a large grant and initiative by a banker's widow, purchased and then gifted the building to the Phanar Greek Orthodox Patriarchate for use as an orphanage. By 1964, the dwindling Greek orthodox population had no need for a 206 room structure. (Claimed to be the largest wooden structure in Europe - I read 85,000 sq. ft/26,000 sq. m) The site has been closed ever since.

The Turkish government reinstated the deed to the Patriarchate last November. Hopefully, this means someone will pick up a paint brush and save this amazing piece of architecture. Wouldn't it be nice if it were a grand hotel once more?

Image: Realleo via Panoramio.com

This is what the view should resemble, though this was taken down the hill a bit.

Image: Mert 16 via Panoramio.com

Google maps has a brilliant bird's eye perspective on this, with all sorts of zoomable pics. Anyone know how to embed that kind of stuff?

Büyükada Orphanage in Istanbul to be Transferred to Greek Patriarchate - Hurriyet Daily News

Büyükada, Istanbul Clip

I've got house guests this week, so here's a clip of Istanbul while I'm entertaining.

Which Way The Wind Blows

via hurriyetdailynews.com

I've heard of the Sirocco and even used the Mistral in one of my chapters. It got me to thinking about the winds of Istanbul. There are two major ones. Lodos (Notus) comes up from the south. In the winter, it cancels the ferry schedule it's so rough. Poyraz (Boreas) comes down from the northeast. Both are named after Greek wind gods.

Care for another one of my adventure stories?

This time, I'm a naive young woman on Büyükada. DH and I borrow a Zodiac from a family friend and take it out fishing one day.

The owner says to us: Make sure you come back before the wind picks up in the afternoon.
DH: Absolutely!

So we head off on our merry way, enjoying our little outboard cruise around the island.

Me: checking out all the houses on the shore from a new perspective. Picnic lunch, etc. We anchor on the back side of the island in the forested park area. There's a pretty steep rock face on that side. (read: no safe place to hide) lalalalalala. No fish anywhere. It is the middle of the day. Well, we catch one rock fish. Ugly as sin.

Loose track of time and guess what....the wind changes. The sea just up and does the cha-cha underneath us, slapping me around in the boat like the fish I'm supposed to be catching.

Me: fear for my life. That rocky shore is getting awfully close. No houses in sight on this side of the island. It takes three times as long to get back. Almost run out of gas. Worst. Fishing. Trip. Ever.

That was not even Poyraz. Not even close.

Now in Mersin there are winds of a different sort. There you want the north/south dynamic. Winds from the south bring air through the house during the day. Winds from the mountains in the north bring cooler air down at night. If you're buying an apartment, direction is one of the the first things you check. If the house faces east/west? Too bad. How sad. Lowball offer.

On a hot summer evening, we joke about the heat: "Don't worry, in a little while the wind will come down from the mountains." We even have a special word for the sea when its waiting for a wind, reflecting the moon like a mirror - Yakamoz.

Which way does the wind blow for your hero?

Istanbul Winds Battle Over the City

The Wind Gods

Heybeliada Sanitarium



DHA photos via Hurriyetdailynews.com

I love finding off-the-beaten path, interesting buildings, but sanitarium might just say it all for me today. Wish I could tell you what it looked like before... After all, I stayed on neighboring Büyükada for weeks and could have easily visited. But of course, I never made it there and so now all we have is this photo of a burned-out shell.

The Heybeliada Sanitarium was created from an historic building in 1924 as a tuberculosis hospital. Waiting lists were long and health resort-style treatments were largely to comfort patients with the uncureable disease of the era. Who could complain, though? With the lovely sea views and pine forests surrounding on all sides, the hospital was idyllic.

Eventually, the hospital's location on an island became a burden for modern medicine. The property was boarded up and an inadequate fire rescue team couldn't handle the blaze. The entire structure was destroyed.

I filed the story location away in my head for someone to meet an unhappy fate in that abandoned building.

Related Articles

• Historical Sanitarium Lost to Fire

Phaeton, Fayton, Caleche, Carriage...Whatever!

Image via WikipediaSorry for the short post today, but I have a deadline for something else looming....

The faytons of Büyükada are cool way to get around. They're a much better option than a bike and definitely better than hoofing it (pun intended).

Since Büyükada is an island, everything has to be brought in on the ferry, so you've probably got bags to carry, maybe some kids to worry about, etc. Hop in and the driver will drop your stuff off at the hotel and then you can take a tour around the island. Don't miss the Museum of the Prince's Islands on your way.

Related articles

• Istanbul's Islands Get a Museum of Their Own (intransit.blogs.nytimes.com)