Phanar Greek Orthodox College or Phanar Roman Orthodox Lyceum (), known in Greek as the Great School of the Nation and Patriarchal Academy of Constantinople (, ''Megáli toú Genous Scholí''), is the oldest surviving and most prestigious

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

school in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

History

Established in its current form in 1454 by the

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

Gennadius Scholarius Gennadius II of Constantinople (Greek: Γεννάδιος; lay name: Γεώργιος Κουρτέσιος Σχολάριος, ''Georgios Kourtesios''; – ) was a Byzantine Greek philosopher and theologian, and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constan ...

who appointed the

Thessalonian Thessalonians may refer to: * People of Thessaloniki, in Greece * Thessalonian Jews * The two Pauline epistles to the people of Thessaloniki: ** First Epistle to the Thessalonians ** Second Epistle to the Thessalonians * Thessalonians (band), a m ...

Matthaios Kamariotis Matthaios Kamariotis (; died 1490) was a Greek scholar of the Renaissance era, from Thessaloniki. He was a lecturer at the University of Constantinople and the first director of the Patriarchal Academy of Constantinople (Phanar Greek Orthodox Colle ...

as its first director. It soon became the school of the prominent

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

(

Phanariotes Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Fanariots (, , ) were members of prominent Greek families in Phanar (Φανάρι, modern ''Fener''), the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople where the Ecumenical Patriarchate is located, who traditionally occupied ...

) and other Orthodox families in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, and many Ottoman ministers as well as

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

n and

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

n princes appointed by the Ottoman state, such as

Dimitrie Cantemir Dimitrie or Demetrius; Cantemir (; ; 26 October 1673 – 21 August 1723), also known by other spellings, was a Moldavian prince, statesman, and man of letters. He twice served as voivode of Moldavia (March–April 1693 and 1710–1711). Durin ...

, graduated from it. The current school building is located near the Church of St. George in the neighborhood of

Fener Fener (; ), also spelled Phanar, is a quarter midway up the Golden Horn in the district of Fatih in Istanbul, Turkey. The Turkish name is derived from the Greek word "phanarion" (Medieval Greek: Φανάριον), meaning lantern, streetlight o ...

(Phanar in Greek), which is the seat of the

Patriarchate Patriarchate (, ; , ''patriarcheîon'') is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, referring to the office and jurisdiction of a patriarch. According to Christian tradition, three patriarchates—Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria—were establi ...

. It is known among the locals with nicknames such as ''The Red Castle'' and ''The Red School''. Designed by the Greek architect Konstantinos Dimadis, the current building was erected between 1881 and 1883 with an eclectic mix of different styles and at a cost of 17,210 Ottoman gold pounds, a huge sum for that period. The money was given by

Georgios Zariphis Georgios Y. Zariphis (, ; 1810 – 28 March 1884), also known as Yorgo Zarifi, was a prominent Ottoman Greek banker and financier. He was also well known as a prominent benefactor of his time. Zariphis met Sultan Abdul Hamid II when the latter wa ...

, a prominent Greek banker and financier belonging to the ''

Rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...

'' community of Istanbul.Clogg (1998), fig. 15. Despite its function as a school, the building is often referred to as "the 5th largest castle in Europe" because of its castle-like shape. The large dome at the top of the building is used as an observatory for astronomy classes and has a large antique telescope inside. Today the school, which is the "second largest" school after the Zografeion Lyceum, has six Turkish teachers, while the remaining fifteen are Greek. The school (like all minority schools, as it is compulsory by law) applies the full Turkish curriculum in addition to Greek subjects: Greek language, literature and religion.

Gallery

File:Greek Lyceum 8805.jpg, Phanar Greek Orthodox High School File:Istanbul (7266904906).jpg, Phanar Greek Orthodox High School File:Phanar_Greek_Orthodox_college_-_main_entry_-_P1030375.JPG, Phanar Greek Orthodox High School File:Phanar Greek Orthodox college - P1030377.JPG, Phanar Greek Orthodox High School File:Phanar Greek Orthodox College building decorations.jpg, Phanar Greek Orthodox High School

Notes

Sources

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Istanbul Educational institutions established in the 15th century Education in the Ottoman Empire Fatih Golden Horn Modern Greek Enlightenment High schools in Istanbul Greeks from the Ottoman Empire School buildings completed in 1883 Eastern Orthodox schools Eastern Orthodox Christian culture Greeks in Istanbul Minority schools Minority schools in Turkey 19th-century architecture in Turkey

History

Gallery

See also

Notes

Sources

External links