Tender for restoration of Greek Orphanage to open in May

ISTANBUL

The tender for the restoration of a school building in the historical Prinkipo Greek Orthodox Orphanage in Istanbul’s Büyükada, the largest of the Princes’ Islands, will be opened in May.

A group of experts, including engineers, city planners, art historians and topographers, from various parts of the world gathered for the restoration of the orphanage, examining the latest state of the structure and the surroundings.

Laki Vingas, the coordinator of the restoration project, state that they will carry out a tender in May for the restoration of the school building within the orphanage.

“We gave our file to interested companies. We have certain criteria for the building to be restored with a green and environmentalist building concept,” Vingas explained.

Underlining that the restoration will cover only the school building, Vingas said there has been no development regarding the restoration of the historical orphanage building, which has been abandoned for years.

Vingas expressed that they have not yet received positive feedback from the institutions within the European Union for the restoration budget of the historical building, adding that a budget of $50 million is required to revive the orphanage building.

In 2018, Europa Nostra, a pan-European federation for cultural heritage, placed the building on the list of the seven most endangered heritage sites in Europe.