Fener

Fener, Fanar or Phanar (Greek Φανάρι IPA| [fa'nari] ) is a neighborhood midway up the Golden Horn, within the borough of Fatih in Istanbul, Turkey (formerly Constantinople). The streets in the area are full of historic wooden houses, churches, and synagogues dating from Byzantine and Ottoman times.

After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Fener district was home to most of the Greeks who remained in the city. The Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople moved to the area as well, and is still located there. As a result, "Phanar" is often used as shorthand for the Ecumenical Patriarchate just as "Vatican" is used for the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Greek inhabitants of Fener were called Phanariotes. Wealthy Phanariotes were appointed voivodes of Wallachia and Moldavia by the Ottoman Empire between 1711 and 1821.

The name "Fener" comes from Greek "Fanari" (φανάρι) and Turkish "Fener" meaning "lantern". [cite web| url=http://www.komvos.edu.gr/dictonlineplsql/simple_search.display_full_lemma?the_lemma_id=15948&target_dict=1 | title="Τριανταφυλλίδης On line Dictionary" | work=Φανάρι (3α) |accessmonthday= October, 7 | accessyear=2006] During the city's Byzantine period, there was within the district a columnar monument, topped with a lantern.

See also

*Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, currently Bartholomew I of Constantinople
*Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
*Church of St George
*Bulgarian iron church "St. Stephen"
*Church of Saint Mary of the Mongols
*Phanar Greek Orthodox College
*Greeks in Turkey
*Fenerbahce

Gallery

References

External links

* [http://www.patriarchate.org Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]