Seraglio

se-ral'yo, the official palace of the sultan at Constantinople. The word is Italian, meaning inclosure. The sultan's seraglio incloses a number of government buildings and a mosque, as well as his private home or harem in which his many wives live. Entrance to the seraglio is gained by means of a lofty gate known as the Sublime Porte, a name applied often to the sultan himself. See Constantinople; Turkey