The college seen from a Greek house in Vodina Caddesi
Phanar Greek Orthodox College or Phanar Roman Orthodox Lyceum (Turkish: Özel Fener Rum Lisesi), known in Greek as the Great School of the Nation and Patriarchal Academy of Constantinople (Greek: 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.
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.[1] 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.[2] 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.
