Fanar

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Fanar (Φανάρι Fanari in Greek, Fener in Turkish) is a neighborhood midway up the Golden Horn, 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.

Its name comes from the Greek word "Fanari", meaning a street light, after a lit monument that was there during Byzantine times. After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Fanar district was home to most of the Greeks who remained in the city.

The Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople moved to the area as well, and is still located there. As a result, the word Fanar is often used as shorthand for the Patriarchate just as Vatican is used for the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.

Greek Phanariotes from wealthy Greek families were appointed voivodes of Wallachia and Moldavia by the Ottoman Empire between 1711 and 1821.

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