Phanariots
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Phanar
Phanar or Fanar (both: fănˈər, fənärˈ), Greek quarter of Constantinople (now İstanbul). Under the Ottoman Empire, Phanar was the residence of the privileged Greek families, called Phanariots. They came into prominence in the late 17th cent. and held influential positions until the Greek war of independence began in 1821. The city is still the site of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople.
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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Phanariots
(literally, “inhabitant of the Phanar,” a quarter of Istanbul in which the Greek patriarch resided), members of the Greek clergy and mercantile aristocracy in the Ottoman Empire during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Among the Phanar-iots were the Mavrokordatos, Ypsilantis, Suzzo, and Karagias families. The Phanariots enjoyed considerable privileges, including the right to hold such high posts as dragoman and lord in the Turkish administration. They lost their power in Walachia and Moldova as a result of the Walachian Revolt of 1821 and in Greece during the Greek War of Independence of 1821–29.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.