Along the Golden Horn - Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City - page 309

point is the site of the former Fener Kapısı, the ancient Porta Phanari,
or the Gate of the Lighthouse. This gate, now vanished, long ago gave
its name to the adjacent quarter, the Fener, so famous in the history of
Istanbul in past centuries. Beginning in the sixteenth century, Greeks of
this neighbourhood, the Feneriotes, amassed considerable wealth in trade
and commerce under the protective mantle of the Ottoman Empire.
Many Feneriotes achieved positions of great eminence in the Empire
and several families between them even gained control of the trans-
Danubian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, client states of the
Ottomans. The Feneriotes ruled as Hospodars, or Princes, and much
of the wealth which they thus acquired was funnelled back into the
Fener, where they built magnificent mansions and palaces. The palaces
of the Feneriotes have now vanished, but a few of their mansions still
survive, reminding us of that colourful period in the city's past.
Continuing along in the same direction for a few steps past Fener
Kapısı, we take the first left and then almost immediately turn right
into the next street, Vodina Caddesi. About 100 metres along this
street on the left side we see a high wall which encloses a large open
area extending up the side of the hill. This area is the property of the
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and within it are two churches of some
interest. (Those wishing to see these churches should make enquiries
at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.) The first of these is the church
of St. George Metochi, just inside the walls along Vodina Caddesi. It
is entered through the gate we see halfway down the block. Since the
middle of the seventeenth century this has been the Metochion of the
Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The church, which has been rebuilt several
times since then, was originally given to the Patriarch of Jerusalem by
Michael Cantacuzenus, one of the first Feneriote plutocrats, whose
palace stood within the walled enclosure where we find the church
today. Michael Cantacuzenus, whom the Turks called Şeytanoğlu,
the Son of Satan, used his wealth to good advantage, acquiring a
vast library which included a collection of most of the extant ancient
manuscripts in the city. Among the manuscripts in St. George there
was discovered in 1906 a lost work of Archimedes. This manuscript,
a tenth-century copy in palimpsest, was a perfect and complete text
of Archimedes' Method of Treating Mechanical Problems, Dedicated to