, was known as the Sublime Porte until the 18th century. 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. This was the practice in the
Byzantine Empire and it was also adopted by
Ottoman Turk sultans since
Orhan I. The palace of the sultan, or the gate leading to it, therefore became known as the "High Gate". This name referred first to a palace in
Bursa, Turkey. After the Ottomans had conquered
Constantinople, now
Istanbul, the gate now known as the Imperial Gate (), leading to the outermost courtyard of the
Topkapı Palace, first became known as the "High Gate", or the "Sublime Porte". 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
Bâb-ı Âlî (now
Bâb-ı Hümâyûn) in order to reach the Vizierate of Constantinople, seat of the Sultan's government. 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. (also known as the Raid on the Sublime Porte) inside. In the 18th century, a new great Italian-styled office building was built just west of
Topkapı 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 (
Bâb-ı Âlî); colloquially it was also known as the Gate of the
Pasha (
paşa kapusu). The building was rebuilt following a fire in 1839, and badly damaged by another fire in 1911. Today, the buildings house the
Istanbul Governor's Office. ==Diplomacy==