![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Imperial_Gate_Topkapi_Istanbul_2007_002.jpg/800px-Imperial_Gate_Topkapi_Istanbul_2007_002.jpg)
The main gate is called the
Imperial Gate (
Arabi:
Bâb-ı Hümâyûn or
Greek:
Porta Augusta), also known as
Gate of the Sultan (Turkish:
Saltanat Kapısı) located to the south
[2]. This massive gate, originally dating from 1478, is now covered in 19th-century marble. The massiveness of this stone gate accentuates its defensive character. Its central arch leads to a high-domed passage. Gilded Ottoman
calligraphy adorns the structure at the top, with verses from the Holy
Koran and
tughras of the sultans. Identified tughras are of Sultan
Mehmed II and
Abdül Aziz I, who renovated the gate. On each side of the hall are rooms for the guard. The gate was open from morning prayer until the last evening prayer. No one apart from
viziers and foreign dignitaries was allowed passage through the gate.
According to old documents, there was a wooden apartment above the gate area until the second half of the 19th century. It was used first as a pavilion by Mehmed, later as a depository for the properties of those who died inside the palace without heirs and eventually as the receiving department of the treasury. It was also used as a vantage point for the ladies of the harem on special occasions.
The Imperial Gate is the main entrance into the First Courtyard.
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