Sublime Porte

The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte (Ottoman Turkish:باب عالی‎ Bâb-ı Âli or Babıali, from Arabic:باب‎, bāb "gate" and Arabic:عالي‎, alī "high"), is a metonym for the central government of the Ottoman Empire, by reference to the gate giving access to the block of buildings that housed the principal state departments in Istanbul. Today, the buildings house the provincial Governor of Istanbul.