Straight out of a story book, over 500 sage-coloured pointy turrets span the hilly Black Sea Region of Turkey as far as the eyes can see. It is a town of surreal compact castles befitting a Disney movie set – from afar. Upon closer inspection, some buildings are actually missing turrets.
Click start to play today’s Word Search, where you can find different types of houses, including castles and pied-à-terre or a small second home.
The $200- (Dh700) million ambitious project started out as a luxury cluster of chateaux eight years ago. If construction plans had panned out, the site would be currently home to 732 mini castles. Except, what is on display is a partially built town suspended in time with every castle eerily identical to the next, flanking unpaved streets and untended lawns.
Though it makes for an exciting apocalyptic tale, reasons for abandonment are less script worthy. Builders Sarot group had intended for the holiday complex, called Burj Al Babas, to pull in tourists, according to The New York Times. Natural thermal springs and pine forests endemic to the site were meant to offer an irresistible package.
In 2018 the contractor pulled out citing bankruptcy after buyers of some 350 castles failed to make payments. Whether the cluster will resume construction or succumb to its desolate fate, it’s to be seen.
So, would you live in an abandoned fairytale castle? Play today’s Word Search and tell us at games@gulfnews.com.
