Excavations by hungarian archaeologists from University of Pecs reveal that the ruins of an Ottoman-era mosque discovered in Szigetvar (South Hungary) might possibly be the resting place of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Head of the research, Dr. Norbert Pap, stated that the shrine can be the place where the internal organs of the sultan were placed in 1566.

Sultan Suleiman was the longest-reigning ruler of the Ottoman Empire. He died in 1566 during the siege of Szigetvar Castle. His internal organs,  including his heart are said to be removed and buried in the area, while his body was later taken back to the then Ottoman capital, where it is still entombed at the Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul. Son of the sultan, Selim II later built a complex at the place where his father’s internal organs were buried. According to the information from that period the grand vizier Sokullu Mehmed Pasha had built a mosque next to the shrine of the Magnificent in Szigetvar. The newly-uncovered remains are bigger than the shrine and appear to be directed towards Islam’s holy city of Mecca. The researchers believe that they found the ruins of the mosque right next to the shrine where the Sultan’s organs may be buried.

(after Anadolu Agency)