Sublime Porte

The Sublime Porte ( Ottoman originally پاشا قاپوسى, IA Pasha Kapusi, later Ottoman باب عالی, IA Bāb -ı ʿ Alī, rarely باب اصفی / Bāb -ı Asefi ) was originally the Arabic-speaking the generic name of the input gate cities and royal palaces. Later, she was particularly related to the sultan's palace in Istanbul and became synonymous with the seat of the Ottoman government.

The name comes from the fact that the reception ceremonies were held for foreign ambassadors and envoys at the gates of cities or rulers palaces in the old Oriental custom. The guard at the Sublime Porte was provided by the Kapıkulu in the Ottoman Empire, a special infantry unit of the Ottoman army.

From 1718 to 1922 the term was used to designate the seat of the Ottoman Grand Vizier or the Ottoman government ( sofa ). During long periods of the Empire the real political power was centered here, and not by the court of the Sultan ( Yıldız Köşkü ). So it was said of foreign ambassadors in Constantinople Opel, they were accredited " to the Sublime Porte ."