costs made Safiye unpopular with the soldiery, who wanted her exiled. At one point Mehmed III temporarily sent her to the Old Palace. Though she returned, she did not live to see the mosque completed. After Mehmed died, Safiye lost power and was permanently exiled to the Old Palace. The mosque's construction was halted for decades. It was finally completed in 1665 by another valide sultan, Turhan Hatice, mother of Mehmed IV. Masjid al-Malika Safiyya The Al-Malika Safiye Mosque in Cairo is named in Safiye's honor. The mosque of al-Malika Safiyya derives its name more by appropriation than by real patronage. It was started by 'Uthman Agha, who held the post of the Agha Dar al-Sa'ada, or black eunuch in charge of the harem, as well as the Egyptian waqf estates of the holy places in the Hijaz. 'Uthman Agha was the agent and slave of the noble Venetian beauty Safiya, of the Baffo family, who had been captured by corsairs and presented to the imperial harem, where she became chief consort of Sultan Murad III (1574–95) and virtual regent for her son, Sultan Mehmed III (1595-1603). 'Uthman died before the mosque was completed, and it went to Safiya as part of his estate. She endowed the mosque with a deed that provided for thirty-nine custodians including a general supervisor, a preacher, the khatib (orator), two imams, timekeeper, an incense burner, a repairman, and a gardener. Death Safiye Sultan died during the reign of her great-grandson Osman II, on 20 April 1619. Safiye was buried in Murad III's tomb, Hagia Sofia. In literature and popular culture In Ann Chamberlin’s Sofia, she is depicted as a 14-year-old Venetian noble girl who was taken by Corsairs to Constantinople. In Katie Hickman's The Aviary Gate, which talks about Safiye Sultan's interactions with an English merchant and the story of an English captive in the harem, she appears as an important character. It shows a detailed explanation of how she ended up in the harem from her homeland in Albanian mountains. In the 2011 TV series Muhteşem Yüzyıl, Young Safiye Sultan is portrayed by Turkish actress Gözde Türker. She is gifted to Murad by Mihrimah Sultan, Murad's aunt, instead of Hümaşah. In the 2015 TV series Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, Safiye Sultan is portrayed by Turkish actress Hülya Avşar. See also Lists of mosques List of mosques in Africa List of mosques in Egypt Ottoman