Fanariotes, Or Phanariotes, the Greeks who reside in the Fanar or Phanar district of Constantinople, whose ancestors had escaped the fury of the Turkish conquerors after the capture of that city by Mohammed II. (1453). Originally employed as translators of public documents and as secretaries and stewards of distinguished personages, they gradually acquired by their wealth, as well as by their abilities and intrigues, great political, financial, and social importance in Turkey. The office of dragoman of the divan was for the first time intrusted to a Greek in the 17th century, under Mohammed IV., and has since been uniformly conferred upon Fanariotes. Most of the hospodars of Moldavia and Wallachia from the latter part of the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th were also members of Fanariote families (Callimachi, Cantacuzene, Cantemir, Ducas, Karadja, Musuri, Sutzo, Ypsilanti, &c). The Fanariotes were the principal bankers of Constantinople, and as such dispensers of an extensive patronage in the bestowal of public offices.