Sublime Porte, Ottoman Porte, High Porte, Bāb-ı Ālī, Babıali, many names, but it is the same place. Actually, it was plenty of places, but this one is the later Sublime Porte. It was however a synecdoche for the central government of the Ottoman Empire, like we call the British Government “Westminster”. The 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, which was transalted to Sublime Porte by these Frenchmen. In the 18th century, a new great Italian-styled office building was built here, where the Grand Vizier (something similar to the Prime Minister in the Ottoman Empire) and plenty of ministers were put. This became the new Sublime Porte. Today, the buildings house the Istanbul Governor's Office. (previous | next | back to album | 2022:09:12 09:58:05 | 37% of an album)