FANAR (φανάρεσιον). - A district of Constantinople, on the Golden Horn. Here, after the Turkish conquest (1453), were established the Greek patriarch and many Greek families, some of whom exercised considerable influence on the Turkish government through their role as interpreters in the diplomatic service and in the navy.
Several members of these families, called “Phanariots,” even became voivodes (governor-princes) of the Danubian principalities (Wallachia, Moldavia). Famous Phanariots were Panajoti Nikusi, Alessandro Mautocordato and his descendants, Morusi, Sotzos, Hypsilanti, Ghika, and Callimachi (the latter two only Hellenized). F. also became a synonym for the dissident Greek Church, indeed for Hellenic politics aspiring to independence.