Sublime Porte
Topkapi Palace , was known as the Sublime Porte until the 18th century.
  The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( Arabic: باب, romanized: bāb, lit. 'gate' and عالي, alī, lit. 'high'), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul .
HistoryThe name has its origins in the old practice in which the ruler announced his official decisions and judgements at the gate of his palace. When Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent sealed an alliance with King Francis I of France in 1536, the French diplomats walked through the monumental gate then known as Bab-ı Ali (now Bâb-ı Hümâyûn) in order to reach the Vizierate of Constantinople, seat of the Sultan's government.[citation needed] French being the language of diplomacy, the French translation Sublime Porte was soon adopted in most other European languages, including English, to refer not only to the actual gate but as a metonymy for the Ottoman Empire.[3][additional citation(s) needed] In the 18th century, a new great Italian-styled office building was built just west of Topkapi Palace area, on the other side of Alemdar Caddesi (Alemdar street). This became the location of the Grand Vizier and many ministries. Thereafter, this building, and the monumental gate leading to its courtyards, became known as the Sublime Porte (Bab-ı Ali);[4] colloquially it was also known as the Gate of the Pasha (paşa kapusu).[1][5] The building was badly damaged by fire in 1911.[5] Today, the buildings house the Istanbul Governor's Office.[4]
Diplomacy"Sublime Porte" was used in the context of Grand Vizier came to refer to the equivalent to that of a prime minister, and viziers became members of the Grand Vizier's cabinet as government ministers.[citation needed ]
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References
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