Fener Greek School’s traditional New Year’s bazaar enthralls visitors
ISTANBUL
Brimming with holiday spirit, Istanbul’s iconic Fener Greek Orthodox Secondary School and High School, one of the city’s oldest educational institutions, has opened its doors to the public, delighting visitors with its vibrant and captivating New Year’s bazaar.
Each year, the historic school — widely known as “Red School” due to its red bricks — hosts scores of visitors during this time of the year for a single day, offering them a rare, exclusive chance to gain insight into its architectural grandeur and distinctive legacy.
Since the school is typically accessible only to students and instructors during the academic year, the traditional New Year’s event garners significant attention.
A large crowd gathers at the school to seize this rare opportunity, exploring the magnificent building while enjoying the offerings of its special bazaar.
Red School is among the most significant representations of societies coexisting since the Ottoman era, according to Dimitri Zatos, the school principal.
One visitor, İsak Kohen, described the building as a “work of art” after experiencing this remarkable representation of the Ottoman era’s cultural and social heritage.
"Its bricks were brought from Marseille [a port city in southern France]," he noted. "Naturally, one can only imagine the grandeur in which students were educated when this building first opened as a school."
He further remarked that stepping inside this imposing building feels just like visiting a museum.
Sedef Ertaç, another visitor, highlighted that she had long been waiting for the school to open its door to visitors.
"I arrived at 10.30 a.m. I have waited for a long time,” she said. “The outside [of the building] is stunning, and the interior is even more amazing. With a view of the Golden Horn, it is a very stunning edifice.”
Noting that she had a remarkable time touring the building, Ertaç underlined that the institution truly embodies its moniker as a red school.
Choosing to share this unique experience with his family, another visitor, Selim Noktacı, revealed he had been eager to visit the historic school for three years. "I am extremely happy. It's an amazing building, and I was especially thrilled by the bricks brought in from Marseille."
People throng to Fener Greek Orthodox Secondary School and High School each year to take a glimpse of its captivating architecture on the occasion of New Year’s bazaar, filling the streets with meters-long queues.
The school’s history dates back to the time of the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror.
Following Mehmed’s conquest of Istanbul, Byzantine merchants and the governing elite fled the city and sought safety in France, Italy and the Aegean islands. When Mehmed summoned all of Istanbul's Orthodox citizens back to the city in 1454, he declared that they may resume their religious obligations, receive education in their own tongue and reestablish their Patriarchate.
The Greeks who had fled Istanbul, thereafter, made their way back to the city in large numbers. Patriarch Gennadios founded the school, also known as Patriarchal Academy, with the approval of Mehmed in 1454, a year after the conquest.
The primary subjects taught in the school included classical philology, literature, ancient and modern philosophy. However, after 1861, the institution transitioned to a high school offering classical instruction.
