Great School of the Nation

Phanar Greek Orthodox College or Phanar Roman Orthodox Lyceum ( tr, Özel Fener Rum Lisesi), known in Greek as the Great School of the Nation and Patriarchal Academy of Constantinople ( el, Μεγάλη του Γένους Σχολή, ''Megáli toú Genous Scholí''), is the oldest surviving and most prestigious Greek Orthodox school in Istanbul, Turkey. The school, like all minority schools in Turkey, is a secular school.

History

Established in its current form in 1454 by the Patriarch, Gennadius Scholarius who appointed the Thessalonian Matthaios Kamariotis as its first Director. It soon became the school of the prominent Greek (Phanariotes) and other Orthodox families in the Ottoman Empire, and many Ottoman ministers as well as Wallachian and Moldavian princes appointed by the Ottoman state, such as Dimitrie Cantemir, graduated from it.

The current school building is located near the Church of St. George in the neighborhood of Fener (Phanar in Greek), which is the seat of the Patriarchate. 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, a prominent Greek banker and financier belonging to the ''Rum'' 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:Phanar_Greek_Orthodox_college_-_main_entry_-_P1030375.JPG, Greek Lycée of the Fener
File:Greek Lyceum 2004.jpg, Greek Lycée of the Fener
File:Greek Lyceum 8801.jpg, Greek Lycée of the Fener
File:Greek Lyceum 8809.jpg, Greek Lycée of the Fener
File:Phanar Greek Orthodox College building decorations.jpg, Greek Lycée of the Fener

See also

*Phanar Ioakimio Greek High School for Girls
*Fener
* Greeks in Turkey
*Zografeion Lyceum
*List of schools in Istanbul
*Ottoman Greeks

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