Photos show an eerie ghost town, where rows of Disney-style houses sit empty after the company behind the development went bankrupt.

The mansions, in Turkey’s northwestern Bolu region on the Black Sea coast, are part of a £160 million project that came to an abrupt end in 2019.

Building work had started five years earlier and some of the homes were completed but have never been lived in, while others remain half finished.

The development, in Burj Al Babas, was overseen by Sarot Properties Group, which also planned to build a waterpark on the 250-acre site, complete with indoor and outdoor pools, slides, Turkish baths, steam rooms and saunas.

A photo shows hundreds of houses part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project on December 15, 2018 close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu northwestern region. - The project to build 732 villas and a shopping centre -- which began in 2014 -- encountered difficulties as Sarot Group applied for bankruptcy protection. Sarot Group made the decision to apply for bankruptcy protection after some of their Gulf customers could not pay for the villas they had bought as part of the $200 million (175 million euros) project, Sarot's deputy chairman, Mezher Yerdelen, said. The villas are worth between $400,000 to 500,000 each. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images
Hundreds of Disney-style mansions stand empty at an abandoned development in Turkey (Picture: Getty Images Europe/AFP)The homes themselves, surrounded by forest and all featuring towers with pointy rooves, look like something you might find at a Disneyland resort and not in rural Turkey.

It had been hoped the properties would be popular with wealthy Arab investors, but only 350 out of 732 of the homes were sold.

And in the end only two thirds of the mansions were completed before Sarot Properties Group ran out of money, according to The Sun.

Aerial view of ghost town of half-built Disney-inspired mansions (2018)

MUDURNU, TURKEY - MAY 21: Hundreds of castle-like villas and houses are seen unfinished at the Burj Al Babas housing development on May 21, 2019 in Mudurnu, Turkey. Construction on the luxury housing project began in 2014 and aimed to build 732 villas, a shopping mall and entertainment facilities targeted at foreign buyers. However the future of the villas is now uncertain after the developers, Sarot Property Group filed for bankruptcy after buyers and investors pulled out of the 150million euro project. The economic downturn and weakening Turkish lira have left many companies unable to pay large foreign currency debts borrowed to finance projects, resulting in many companies filing for bankruptcy and leaving projects unfinished. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Many of the properties were never finished (Picture: Getty Images Europe/AFP)

TOPSHOT - A photo shows hundreds of houses part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project on December 15, 2018 close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu northwestern region. - The project to build 732 villas and a shopping centre -- which began in 2014 -- encountered difficulties as Sarot Group applied for bankruptcy protection. Sarot Group made the decision to apply for bankruptcy protection after some of their Gulf customers could not pay for the villas they had bought as part of the $200 million (175 million euros) project, Sarot's deputy chairman, Mezher Yerdelen, said. The villas are worth between $400,000 to 500,000 each. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP)ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images
The houses sit closely beside each other in long rows (Picture: AFP/Getty Images Europe)
The firm was reportedly left with a debt of £21 million and, caught up in Turkey’s financial turmoil at the time, filed for bankruptcy.

It had also faced criticisms and legal action from local residents for allegedly destroying trees.

People living in the area also felt the properties looked out of place among the area’s Ottoman-era architecture and had a negative impact on the environment.

MUDURNU, TURKEY - MAY 21: Hundreds of castle-like villas and houses are seen unfinished at the Burj Al Babas housing development on May 21, 2019 in Mudurnu, Turkey. Construction on the luxury housing project began in 2014 and aimed to build 732 villas, a shopping mall and entertainment facilities targeted at foreign buyers. However the future of the villas is now uncertain after the developers, Sarot Property Group filed for bankruptcy after buyers and investors pulled out of the 150million euro project. The economic downturn and weakening Turkish lira have left many companies unable to pay large foreign currency debts borrowed to finance projects, resulting in many companies filing for bankruptcy and leaving projects unfinished. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
The company behind the development were left £21 million in debt (Picture: AFP/Getty Images Europe)

Mudurnu - Bolu - Turkey, 15 February, 2022, chateau houses, Burj Al Babas; Shutterstock ID 2144613409; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -
The sprawling development covered in snow (Picture: Shutterstock/Esin Deniz)
It’s not clear whether the development will be finished, but building materials remain at the site.

For now it sits empty apart from the odd visit from curious tourists.

Meanwhile, in the UK, an urban explorer shared photos of an abandoned zoo, which had also been hit by financial difficulties.

Daniel Sims, known online as Bearded Reality, took a look around the former Rutland Sanctuary Zoo in Oakham, East Midlands.