Tomb of Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana)

The Tuerbe of Huerrem Sultan, known in the West as Roxelana, stands in the cemetery garden of the Sueleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul and was built in 1558 by court architect Mimar Sinan for the favourite consort of Suleyman the Magnificent. Huerrem was a slave abducted from Ruthenia who became the first woman at the Ottoman court formally elevated to wife and exercised major political influence. Her octagonal mausoleum is plain outside but entirely lined inside with the finest Iznik tiles showing cypresses and tulips in deep red, blue and turquoise, considered a high point of classical Ottoman interior art. The Sueleymaniye complex is a UNESCO World Heritage site; the tuerbe is open free of charge daily.