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Fener (; ), also spelled Phanar, is a quarter midway up the Golden Horn in the district of Fatih in Istanbul, Turkey. The Turkish language name is derived from the Greek word "phanarion" (Medieval Greek: Φανάριον), meaning lantern, streetlight or lamppost; the neighborhood was so called because of a column topped with a lantern which stood here in the Byzantine period and was used as a street light or lighthouse.
Fener was a traditionally Greek neighbourhood during the Ottoman era and its streets still contain many old stone houses and churches dating from Byzantine Empire and Ottoman Empire times. The grand mansions between the main road and the shore of the Golden Horn were often used to store wood imported from the Black Sea (Pontos) area; one now houses Istanbul's Women's Library. Their picturesque façades were damaged as a result of street-widening work from the 1930s onwards.
Fener is sandwiched between Cibali and Balat on the southern shore of the Golden Horn. The steep hills behind it run up to the Fatih neighbourhood.
Fener is served by the T5 tram line which links it with Cibali and the small bus terminal (for buses to Anatolia) at Alibeyköy. The Golden Horn ferry also stops at Fener, linking it to Üsküdar, Karaköy, Kasımpaşa, Balat, Ayvansaray, Hasköy, Sütlüce and Eyüp.
During the Ottoman period, the Greek inhabitants of Fener were called Phanariotes and often served the Sultan in important roles. Wealthy Phanariotes often served as (translators) or became the governors of provinces in the Balkans and Greece. Several served as of Wallachia and Moldavia between 1711 and 1821.
During WWI, the area was affected by the British bombing of Istanbul.
The Church of St Mary of the Mongols (Panagia Muhliotissa, Theotokos Panagiotussa), inland and uphill from the Patriarchate, is interesting as the one church in Constantinople that was never turned into a mosque, even after the Conquest of Istanbul in 1453. The architect Atik Sinan (not to be confused with the better known Mimar Sinan) is said to have persuaded Sultan Mehmet II to allow it to continue providing services for the Greek population and a copy of the ferman (edict) decreeing this still hangs on the church wall.
Near the Church of St Mary of the Mongols is the huge red-brick Phanar Greek Orthodox College. The historian Dimitri Cantemir was a student here in the 17th century. Today it has only a tiny number of pupils. A second Greek school in Fener, the Maraşlı Greek Orthodox Primary School, is also an imposing building but no longer has any pupils.
Battered remnants of the Sea Walls that used to close Constantinople off from the Golden Horn still skirt Fener. The Ayakapı gate through the walls is believed to have been designed by Mimar Mimar Sinan in 1562.
The back streets of Fener are full of two and three-storied terraced houses often with cumbas (bay windows) as well as a handful of much grander houses. Many have been converted to house cafes, restaurants and tourist accommodation.
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